This past month, the kids and I were doing our own neighborhood food shelf pick-up on a sweltering hot Wednesday. After my two-year-old had attempted to peek into one window too many as we were collecting bags from our neighbors' front steps, and after my four-year-old had honked the horn for the umpteenth time after I got out of the van, my patience was at its end. I confess I found myself thinking, "Argh, I just want to get to the end of this."

Most of life centers around the "me" in each of us. It can be a hard thing to escape-even in the midst of doing for others. But despite the occasional inconvenience, despite the hassle, despite horn-honking or window-peeking, there is change that occurs in us when we do for others.

This morning at 6:30 a.m., I was sitting at Perkins meeting with a group of individuals who are passionately committed to feeding people who are hungry. During the course of conversation, Steve Bonesho of River of Joy offered this nugget: "Changed hearts will change the world."

When we serve, we are changed. When we are changed, the world is changed. No wonder Albert Schweitzer said, "The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." It's at the root of a bigger, brighter, better, more beautiful world, and who wouldn't want to be part of that?