More acceptance and better understanding can bring a richer, rewarding life, especially for today’s teens.

Houston Kraft knows as much.

“Don’t forget that large acts of life are shaped by little acts of love,” Kraft told a young audience assembled at the Kentridge High School gymnasium last week for K-Day: Leave Your Legacy, a Kent School District event organized to help forge partnerships and effect positive, sustainable change.

Kent’s four high schools are working in partnership with the school district and Kent Police Department to bring a message of unity.

Proceeds from the event benefitted KentHOPE and its efforts to end homelessness in the community.

The student-led campaign invited Kraft, a leadership consultant, inspirational speaker and kindness advocate, to deliver a message of hope on the March 3 K-Day.

Kraft set the tone, his talk focused on kindness, compassion and love. His powerful message touches middle school through college-aged students at assemblies, conferences and workshops throughout the country. He visited 110 schools last year alone.

Kids need to spend more time developing meaningful relationships, not just devote their entire attention on academics and activities, said Kraft, who attended Snohomish High School.

“We spend so much time every single day practicing to get better at all kinds of things,” he said. “We show up for our practices. We spend two hours at football, at volleyball. (In class) we spend 55 minutes with math … history … English. But we don’t have time to consistently practice love.

“There’s a lot of joy to be found in helping others,” he said. “There’s a lot of love and fulfillment to be found in serving.”

And that means doing the small things, Kraft emphasized.

“We forget about 99 percent of our lives. Most of our lives happen between big moments,” Kraft said. “What do you do in those forgettable moments to make other peoples’ lives more memorable? … How are people going to remember you?

“We have one big life to live, and we can choose every single day to fill it with small moments of love,” Kraft explained. “The big parts of life are going to happen. You’re going to go to college. You’re going to work real hard, get a job and hopefully meet someone and marry. You’re going to do many great things … and you’re going to be good at them. But don’t forget that large acts of life are shaped by little acts of love.”

For kids, acceptance and understanding are hard lessons to learn.

“There’s a lot of people at your school who are difficult to love,” Kraft said. “They’re complex. They may come across as annoying, insecure, lonely or weird, or different. And they are harder to love.

“What I also learned to be true is that people who are the hardest to love are the ones who most need it,” Kraft said. “I believe every single person in your school deserves to be loved. A lot of time we don’t give it to other people because it’s really hard work.

“But we can do the little things for big love.”

K-Day also invited Bob Mortimer, an acclaimed author of “Hope and Courage Across America,” which tells the story of his journey as a triple-amputee traveling with his family from Gig Harbor to the Statue of Liberty on bicycles.

At the age of 21, Mortimer walked into a downed power line after a late-night car crash. The electrocution resulted in the amputation of his two lower legs and left arm. A few years later, Mortimer met Darla, his wife, who encouraged him to discover his real purpose in life through hope in the Lord.

Bob and Darla founded Bob Mortimer Motivational Ministries, spreading a message of hope and courage.

“I’m OK with who I am. I’m comfortable in my own skin,” Mortimer told the audience. “For me, it’s not a handicap but an adjustment.

“We compare ourselves with others, and we don’t need to be like everybody else,” he said. “Accept yourself and the things that make you different.”

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LINKS:

www.houstonkraft.com

www.hcjourney.org

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PHOTO BELOW: Houston Kraft, a leadership coach and kindness advocate, has fun with the K-Day crowd at Kentridge High School. Kraft encouraged students to ‘do the little things for big love.’ MARK KLAAS, Kent Reporter