Hello Gardeners, and happy new year! Wow, can you believe we have already entered 2025? I am so blessed and thankful. My heart is filled with gratitude before 2024; I know it is only up from here. This morning, while I was having some quiet time, God gave me something I want to share with you—“Perfecting a Right Now Praise.”

Let’s Dive In

I know the thought of “perfect” sent you running; if you could slow down, I’ll explain my reasoning. 😂 “Perfecting” is a verb that means to “make (something) completely free from faults, or defects…” (Oxford, 2025) When I think about the verbs and actions needed to make something perfect, I think of making a repetitive move—working at something repeatedly to yield a specific result.

Looking back at Wednesday night prayer meetings from my childhood, I remember hearing the same prayers and praise every week. I did not understand back then, but I know now that my parents and the members of my home church were perfecting their “right-now” praise and their faith. They were going all in and trusting God with the future and the present.

Praise is a joyful noise, prayer, tears, service—whatever we do as God’s children to glorify Him. Praise is what we do to show that we are grateful for all God has done and will do in the future. But what about what He is currently doing? What about the right-now praise?

2024 was an incredible year. God did some excellent works in my life, and I cannot thank Him enough for keeping me as He did. But I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t have moments where I had to push for my praise truly, where I had to call on Jesus despite being sick, feeling mistreated, and overlooked. During my quiet time, God spoke to me and told me, “Let’s not try and plan 2025. Trust me to make it transformative. Trust me to continue to keep you, and until you see all that I have planned, praise me right now.”

Now you know I took off running, right?

🙌🏽🙏🏽🗣️

Praising God right now—perfecting my “right-now” praise to me means talking to God more. Being more like those who came before me—repetitive petitions to God so that I can increase my faith. Going beyond telling Him my requests, but telling everything—the highs, lows, and in-between—and genuinely trusting Him to lead me because He’s led me this far. He was with me even when I wasn’t with Him, which speaks volumes to His love and care for His children. Last year, I read a post from someone, and I am going to paraphrase, but it went a little bit like this:

“The things that we stop praying for are the things we are afraid to trust God fully. We think He doesn’t want us to have it, so we shouldn’t even talk to Him about it.”

I did a little self-inventory and realized that was true for me. I placed a limit on myself and, ultimately, what I thought God could do by giving into that mindset of “it hasn’t happened, so it must not be for me.” That type of thinking stunts growth and being present and full of praise for God.

So, instead of focusing on what did not happen in 2024, what I missed in previous years, or what I want to happen in 2025—I am going to focus on RIGHT NOW, and right now—I am blessed.

I love you very much and am glad you are still journeying with me. Garden of Growth will do great things this year, and you will too!

Take Care,

Tori B. 💕🌻