Sugar Cane Juice

By Narelle Laidlaw

Whatever stage of life you are at, God can use your story to make a mark on the people around you! Sugar Can Juice is a story for every woman who has ever wondered, where is God? Narelle tells her story with honesty and integrity, and leave no double that God is at work in her life.

 

Whether you know a relationship with Jesus or not, this book is for you! Narelle shares from her own personal journey with God, and shows that even in the most difficult moments, we are never alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Narelle Laidlaw
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9780648857716

Book preview

Sugar Cane Juice coverSugar Cane Juice title page

First published 2021 by Narelle Laidlaw

Produced by Independent Ink

independentink.com.au

Copyright © Narelle Laidlaw 2021

The moral right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. All enquiries should be made to the author.

Cover design by Maria Biaggini

Edited by Michele Perry

Internal design by Independent Ink

Typeset by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia

ISBN 978-0-6488577-0-9 (paperback)

ISBN 978-0-6488577-1-6 (epub)

ISBN 978-0-6488577-2-3 (kindle)

This book is dedicated to You, its reader – those who may feel crushed, flattened, and pressed down in your souls, the supressed self-worth – I too have experienced such pain. However, I also know that God does see you, cares for you, and sustains you through His steadfast presence, grace, and unconditional love. Whilst you may not understand the purpose or reason for your pain, my prayer is that you will gain a greater understanding of the perfection and extravagance of God’s love for you and His creative power and authority to take all things and make them beautiful and new.

Introduction

Trust in the

Lord

with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5–6 New International Version (NIV)

As the old adage goes: ‘We learn something new every day.’ And while this saying can be overused, there is some truth in it.

Every day we encounter experiences and people in the world around us, and we take something away – good or bad. Life is not so boring when we are acquiring knowledge that helps us grow and change.

We can be consciously on the lookout and ready for that something to learn, or it can just suddenly show up. It can appear out of nowhere and take us by complete surprise. Of course, we may not always remember this something we’ve learnt. But, at the time, it can astound us, capture our attention with its wonder and leave us marvelling at what we have just encountered.

While that something may not be ‘world-changing’, its fascination can simply be due to its relevance for us. Our new knowledge dovetails into something pertinent to who we are now, who we have been, and maybe, just maybe, who we might become. It is almost like that something is now ours, belonging to us and us alone. The authenticity of that something makes it feel almost tangible, and its significance to us cannot be disregarded.

I have experienced those obvious days when the something I have learnt became etched into my memory, changing me and the course of my life forever. It did not come from reading or listening to endless accounts of other people’s experiences. Rather, my confidence in this certainty was drawn from my own encounters, which, although they were nothing out of the ordinary, were simply real and unique to me.

I am ‘a typical’ and – for the most part, I dare say – a normal woman in my late fifties at the time of writing this book. I have been married to my husband Noel for the past 38 years, and together we parent three gorgeous, grown-up daughters: Trina, Peta, and Brook. We live in the beautiful Bayside suburb of Cleveland, the gateway to Stradbroke Island. The beginning of 2020 clocked up 18 years for us at Cleveland, and it ticked a lot of boxes for us as a family.

One of the bonuses of living where we do is the short distance to the Cleveland Baptist Church, where we became actively involved when we first arrived in Brisbane. As a family, we experienced nine great years of serving God with the wonderful fellowship in this church.

But as God sometimes does, He was leading us on to a new place of worship. After some so-called ‘shopping around’, God guided us into the Gateway Baptist Church, a place where God was very much alive and at work.

Being a large church, Gateway’s extensive main foyer seemed like a shopping centre when we first attended. There were lots of people coming and going, especially between services. Now, one of the things that Noel hates is shopping centres, and he will avoid them at all costs, so immediately I thought, this place isn’t going to work for him, he’ll be out of here quick smart. However, despite his grim view of shopping centres, Gateway’s foyer soon became a most welcoming place, beckoning us into amazing times of worship and teaching.

Gateway has quite a large pastoral team that keeps the many aspects of a church this size running well. The church-wide series is one of Gateway’s notable events that occurs each year and spans across six weeks. The series encompasses teachings at church each Sunday and members from Life Groups meet the following week to further explore the sermon together. We grow best in the context of ‘relationships’, making being part of a Life Group an important aspect of Gateway’s church family.

Personally, my life has thrived when connected with others. Life Groups are that place where I can pursue healthy relationships and spiritual growth, experience accountability, belonging and care. Connection and growth are enabled in ways that can only happen each week in Life Groups across the Gateway campuses as we delve deeper into Sunday’s teaching as a group.

In 2012, we had been living in Queensland for just over ten years, and I was still not convinced that the ‘Sunshine State’ had ever seen a real winter. I love winter up here, such a stark comparison to the somewhat cold and dreary winter days of Young, in south-west New South Wales, the place where we had moved from.

There we would spend many weeks before each winter out collecting and cutting firewood in readiness for the cold months ahead. Our fire was often surrounded by clothes racks full of thick winter school uniforms, trying to get dry for the next day. While it may all sound cosy and warm, winters were hard work in Young!

For someone who loathes humidity, summer in Queensland is a whole different story for me. I would gladly trade the hot, sticky days of a sweltering Queensland summer for those glorious mid-year months any day. However, there has been one exception to this belief of mine, and the winter of 2012 was that time.

The 2012 church-wide series, ‘When We Pray’, supported one of Gateway’s 12 values: ‘We pray as if life depends on it.’ And for me, prayer is such an important and crucial aspect of living the Christian life. Everyone prays at some time in some way, in every nation, age, culture and language. Some pray to an idol, others in cathedrals, churches, homes and communities. Certain people pray five times a day, others before every meal, and for most when they are in trouble. Nonetheless, many pray – all with different experiences of prayer.

Some people may even find it is a complete waste of time, so why bother. Others may feel unworthy, believing that they have let God down, and therefore He is not going to be troubled by listening to them. There are those who may feel inadequate to pray and worry that they do not have the right words, or they are just simply too busy, or prayer is not a priority. However, the way in which Jesus teaches us to pray does not follow any formula, nor ritual to perform. It is simply a privilege to be able to talk to our heavenly Father, made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God loves to hear from us, no matter what our prayers may sound like. For Him, it is about having a relationship with His children and prayer is a great connector between us and God.

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

Jeremiah 29:12 NIV

The series, ‘When We Pray’, was an opportunity to grow deeper in our relationship with God, finding a new intimacy with Him, being filled with power, love, courage and grace so that we would go wider in our influence for good in our families, friends, community and world.

I remember one week when the prayer focus was on healing, and at the time I was battling the worst flu I had had in years, so I was up for some healing! However, that Sunday morning, I just could not muster the energy to get myself along to hear about prayer for healing and felt somewhat disappointed. As the day wore on, there was a stirring inside, beckoning me towards going to church that night. This was of course a ridiculously absurd thought. The flu that had nearly become pneumonia had a stronghold on my whole body. My days, even in a glorious Queensland winter, were spent wrapped up in bed trying to keep warm and get well.

I was dealing with fatigue on every level: emotionally, spiritually, and of course physically. It felt like I was in a warzone, with the battle going on within every fibre of my being, crying out for rest and renewal, for release from this tiresome struggle just to get through each day.

Regardless of how I felt on that Sunday night, I just knew deep within my spirit that I needed to be at church. So, all rugged up off I went, expectant to receive and hear from God. Everywhere Jesus went he prayed for people to be healed, not being concerned about how the person became unwell but rather how he was going to heal! Some He chose to heal instantly, others over time, and there were even people He chose not to heal this side of heaven. As followers of Christ, we are certain that God still heals today, whether by touch, through prayer, a miracle, or a word. Therefore, we are called to pray for healing, not in our own strength, but in the power and authority given in Jesus’ name.

Are there any sick among you? Then ask the elders of the church to come and pray over the sick and anoint them with oil in the name of our Lord.

James 5:14 Passion translation

Even though I coughed my way through the service, and probably irritated those around me, I was in a place of spiritual anticipation. Bring it on, God!

Towards the end of the service, Jason Elsmore, our senior pastor, asked anyone who needed healing to stand, and for people to gather around them in prayer. Yes, I thought as I stood on my feet before God. That would be me! Several people gathered around me to pray, but Noel was the only one among them who was aware of my circumstances.

Standing there that night is deeply etched into my memory. Although I greatly appreciated the prayers of hope, healing, encouragement, and love, it was what happened straight after that really captured my attention.

As soon as the service ended, a man who had prayed for me earlier turned to me and said, ‘God has given me this picture for you. I am not sure it will make sense, but here it is. We live in Inala and we often go into the shopping centre where they have sugar cane juice machines operating. The sugar cane is put through heavy rollers for all the juice to be crushed out, which then goes into a cup. People buy this juice to drink as a health tonic. Tonight, God is saying to you, the crushing has stopped, and He is giving you back the cup.’

At first when this faithful messenger of God started to give me this picture, I thought, where is Inala, and what the heck has this got to do with me? You have the wrong lady here, but I will be polite and listen.

However, his words ‘the crushing has stopped’ certainly sparked my interest in his word from God.

It was his reference to ‘crushing’, that ‘bearing’, ‘pressing’ and ‘smashing down’ that stirred my curiosity. Such quelling and quashing were how I had been feeling for an awfully long time – for several years in fact.

Concerning the cup being given back to me that night, I really was not sure about that part. If this sugar cane juice was supposed to be life-giving and full of all sorts of goodies, which make us feel alive and well, I certainly did not feel like I had drunk from it yet. I still felt lifeless, more like one of those crushed pieces of cane he had just described.

Until that night, I had never heard of sugar cane juice or the process of how it was made, let alone why people drank it. For me, sugar cane juice was that something I had learnt that day, an encounter that led me on a quest to learn more about what I believed was something worthy of my time and attention! The relevance of this word, ‘crushing’ me, and the intrigue of not yet knowing its full meaning, was the perfect timing, a gift of hope for healing and renewal which God had just spoken into my life

It would lead me on a journey to discover all that I could about sugar cane juice – and, unexpectedly and most importantly, myself!

Chapter One

Telling My Story

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story …

Psalm 107:2 New International Version (NIV)

The first place I usually head to for information is the internet, this time typing ‘sugar cane juice’ into the search bar. Google was able to satisfy my curiosity as I began to read about the process of how the juice was made and the wonderful benefits it gave to the body through regular intake. However, it was the method and machine required to make the juice itself that resonated with me.

The more I learnt, the more I could relate to God’s word for me that Sunday night at church. It became increasingly evident that this ‘compression’ of the cane was where my focus would be, and a series of questions began to unfold before me.

What parts of my life represent pieces of sugar cane going through those crushing rollers?

Do these crushed pieces of cane represent meaninglessness, hopelessness, and worthlessness in my own life?

How does God view such waste in our lives? Does it have any purpose?

While we cannot reverse this crushing process, is there hope and renewal beyond the pain of these experiences?

The answers to these and many more questions began a much deeper quest into uncovering who I was through my life’s events and circumstances. The sugar cane juice analogy became a platform from which I continued to explore my own personal growth.

God had given me this vision, and I knew it was going somewhere worthwhile!

Yet, I needed to process all that I had discovered and what I was thinking, so I took myself off to my ‘happy place’, which was just a short walk from our home down to the water’s edge of Moreton Bay.

The Courthouse was a restaurant that had a prime position, with uninterrupted views of the Bay. Being situated at the end of a quiet street added to the peacefulness of The Courthouse’s surroundings.

My ‘happy place’ view never failed to impress!

Journaling had become a part of my own self-expression, and this discipline became even more important during my time of ‘self-discovery’. I