I never expected to miss the peace and quiet of a gas station.

When I first learned to drive, my dad was very strict about the rules of pumping gas. He taught me that it was unsafe to get back in my car and that I shouldn’t use my cell phone. Instead, I needed to stand by the pump and wait. I remember hearing the sounds of the cars driving by, seeing people getting in and out of their cars and going in and out of the convenience store, and feeling the cool air or the hot sun—depending on the time of year. But those days are gone. Now, it seems that every pump has a built-in television that begins to play loud and bright advertisements while you fill up your car. Even the simplest of detours—like getting gas—is now another opportunity to experience overstimulation and distraction from what is actually happening around us.

This is representative of a broader shift in our culture and lives. We seem to be constantly glancing from one screen to the next, hurrying from one obligation to another. We are rarely still, rarely quiet, rarely aware of our present surroundings—and as a result, we are rarely able to experience awe. So how do we recover those moments of quiet, stillness, or awe in such a fast paced and overstimulating world?

Remove Unnecessary Distractions

In order to recover these still and quiet moments that allow us to experience awe, we have to remove some of the noise around us. This may include things like social media, TV shows, email or text notifications, or reading the news. Different people will be distracted in different ways, but here are a few ways you can remove unnecessary distractions:

• Leave your phone in the car when you go grocery shopping or to church.
• Leave your phone in another room when you go to bed at night.
• Limit your television viewing to just once per week.
• Try driving in silence.
• Disable unnecessary notifications on your phone or laptop

Practice Experiencing Wonder

It is not enough to merely remove the things that cause overstimulation—for those moments will only fill themselves with more distraction if you do not intentionally put something else in their place. Here are some ideas for practices that are slower, quieter, and may help you cultivate wonder:

• Take up a hands-on hobby like gardening, knitting, or painting.
• Spend more time reading.
• Pray or read Scripture.
• Start a daily journal and take up the discipline of regularly writing in it.

Pay Attention to Your Surroundings

Wonder and awe are not only found in the intentional practices from above. You can encounter beautiful moments wherever you are if you simply pay attention. Next time you are out—maybe pumping gas, shopping, or just on a walk around your neighborhood, try to truly take in your surroundings. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? Because our beautiful and awesome God is transcendent—filling every corner of the earth—we know we can find beauty and awe wherever we go.

Author Bio:

Beth White is a Staff Writer for The Daily Grace Co. She is passionate about studying and teaching God’s Word. When she is not writing about the Bible, you can find her reading classics, drinking coffee with friends, or spending time with her family.

Additional Resources:

Daily Grace | How Jesus Answers Our Heartache with Himself		The Attributes of God Bible Study		Grace in Chaos | Motherhood Bible Study		Daughters of Grace | Women of the Bible Study
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