In my last column, I wrote about hope as a skill. Hope isn’t passive, and it isn’t something we either have or we don’t. Like any skill, it has to be built through small choices, steady practice, supportive relationships and repeated evidence that change is possible. Once hope is developed in a person, it can…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-20-at-12.49.48-PM-e1784566789879.png5041142Christopher Cooperhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngChristopher Cooper2026-07-26 11:30:002026-07-20 13:08:33Hope Comes Full Circle
A dear friend of mine, who is a marriage and family therapist, recently sent me a piece of research because, as she put it, it reminded her of my family. This is both a compliment and a small accusation. I’ve often felt I know more family history than the average person should. Not just the…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/pexels-rdne-7782973-scaled-e1783348958921.jpg9562048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2026-07-12 11:30:002026-07-06 10:50:32The Stories That Make Us Strong
Last Sunday, we celebrated Father’s Day. There were cards with handprints, neckties that may or may not ever be worn, backyard cookouts, phone calls, social media tributes and children proudly presenting homemade gifts involving glue, glitter and questionable spelling. Father’s Day gives us a chance to say what should probably be said more often: Dads…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/pexels-orlandoallo-3398421-scaled.jpg20481437Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2026-06-28 11:00:002026-06-22 12:53:15Dad’s Earliest Job May Be More Important Than We Thought
We recently moved into a house that is almost 100 years old, which means every day feels like a small adventure in charm, character and “what is that sound?” It has old floors, old doors, old windows and the kind of quirks you only love after you’ve signed the mortgage paperwork. It also has raspberry…
Several people have told me lately that May feels less like spring and more like “May-cember.” It’s the December of the school year. There are graduations, field days, awards ceremonies, end-of-school parties, teacher gifts, final projects, Mother’s Day plans, Memorial Day travel, sports banquets, recitals, class celebrations, field trips, summer camp registrations and approximately 427…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/pexels-freestockpro-12969212-scaled.jpg13652048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2026-05-31 11:00:002026-05-28 12:08:30Overwhelm, Accountability and Relationships That Matter
First Things First is in the middle of a rebrand. Same name. Same mission. Deeper alignment. And as part of that process, I’ve had the privilege of sitting across from some of the founders of the organization and key stakeholders who prompted this work decades ago. I’ve asked them questions that sound simple until you…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/pexels-rebornfilmes-27051224-scaled-e1779288977854.jpg9351365Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2026-05-24 11:00:002026-05-20 11:05:41What It Means to Put First Things First
Some people’s stories don’t come with clean endings. They don’t tie up neatly or offer us a clear hero and villain. They just sit with us, heavy, complicated, and unresolved. Recently, my family lost someone like that. They were the kind of person you wanted at your dinner table. Funny, warm, generous, compassionate. The first…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/pexels-ketut-subiyanto-4746779-scaled.jpg20481365Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2026-05-03 11:00:002026-05-01 15:05:14The Complicated Truth About Second Chances in Relationships
A friend recently posed a question to me that I have not been able to shake. He said that for many Boomers, the phrase they rarely heard growing up was, “I love you.” For many Gen Xers and older millennials, the missing phrase was often, “I’m sorry.” Then he asked: What will this generation say…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/pexels-matvalina-26050335-scaled-e1776956185789.jpg9422048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2026-04-26 11:00:002026-04-23 11:01:38What Will This Generation Not Hear from Their Parents?
There is a particular ache in parenting adult children: they are old enough to vote, drive, and ignore your excellent advice, yet sometimes not quite old enough to stop making decisions that make you want to stare at the ceiling and reconsider every permissive moment since preschool. The job has changed, but the love has…
Every few weeks, social media serves up a new kind of honesty: parents saying they love their kids… and also don’t want to be around them. Not “I need a break,” but “I only have about 10–15 minutes in me a day,” or “I don’t want to play,” or “My kids irritate me nonstop.” I…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/pexels-olly-3820210-scaled.jpg14542048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2026-02-03 08:00:002026-01-30 11:45:37When “I Don’t Want to Parent” Goes Viral, Kids Still Have to Live There
The first time you pack a home to start a new one, you realize you’re not just moving furniture, you’re moving a culture. I found that out the year my husband and I wrapped and packed our new dishes next to his large trunk of travel souvenirs and my grandmother’s floral music box. On paper,…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/pexels-caleboquendo-3038369-scaled.jpg12972048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2025-11-16 11:00:002025-11-13 14:57:25Honoring Where You’re From While Building What Comes Next
Here’s the truth about “adulting” in 2025: it’s a moving target. As a 35-year-old CEO of a family nonprofit—and a mom to a fearless two-year-old and a six-year-old who just discovered the magic of school lunch pizza—I think a lot about what our kids are growing up into. The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest look at…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/pexels-helenalopes-708440-scaled.jpg14442048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2025-08-24 11:00:002025-08-20 16:46:59Key Adult Milestones Are Not Being Reached: What That Means for Everyone
My brother and I had a lengthy conversation this week about mental health. We both work in what I’ll call “high-impact” jobs, though they seem worlds apart. Some days, coping and processing the stress can feel like mental gymnastics, flipping and stretching the capacities of our mental health. According to a 2016 meta-analysis on mental…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/pexels-kamaji-ogino-5094662-scaled.jpg12772048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2025-08-17 11:00:002025-08-11 14:19:04The Low Down on Mental Health, Stress and Family Genetics
If you listen closely, you can already hear it—the zip of fresh backpacks, the crinkle of notebook wrappers, and the collective gasp of parents realizing the days of “popsicles for lunch” are numbered. Whether your child is brand‑new to kindergarten or a seasoned locker‑door slammer, a little prep now will save everyone tears. Here are…
As a mom of two—I get it. Screens are everywhere. They’re helpful, entertaining, and sometimes, let’s be honest, the only reason we get to finish our coffee while it’s still warm. But as both a parent and the CEO of a nonprofit that helps strengthen families, I can’t stop talking about the effects screens have…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pexels-karolina-grabowska-4959741-scaled.jpg13652048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2025-07-27 11:00:002025-07-21 12:00:34How Screen Use Can Shape Children’s Brains (and What to Watch For)
The other night, my 6-year-old son looked up from his peanut butter sandwich and asked, “Mom, what’s going on in that place called Gaza? Everybody is talking about it.” I paused, mid-bite, suddenly aware that his little ears had caught news from the TV at his grandparents’ house. It’s a question many of us face:…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pexels-ketut-subiyanto-4473774-scaled.jpg13652048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2025-07-20 11:00:002025-07-11 15:26:08When and How to Discuss Tragedies With Your Children
My almost two-year-old daughter insists on putting her shoes on “by MY-self.” It takes five full minutes, a mild meltdown, and one backward sandal, but she makes it happen. Meanwhile, her six-year-old brother loves to “make his own breakfast”—which, in his world, means putting jelly on bread and pouring his own oatmilk. Was it messy?…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/pexels-cottonbro-6651157-scaled.jpg13652048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2025-07-13 11:00:002025-07-22 12:44:25How to Help Young Kids Grow More Independent
The other night, my six-year-old son asked, “Can something be true for one person but not for another?” And just like that, between spaghetti and bedtime, we stumbled into philosophy. I know—it sounds like something best left to college kids with thick glasses and lots of coffee. But recent research says otherwise. In fact, teaching…
Something interesting is happening around kitchen tables these days. Families are talking more openly about things that used to stay quietly tucked away—anxiety, boundaries, burnout, childhood wounds. Mental health culture has brought these topics out of the shadows and into everyday conversation. That’s a good thing—mostly. But it’s also created a growing tension between generations.…
https://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pexels-rdne-6148866-scaled-e1750262537733.jpg11572048Lauren Hallhttps://courses.firstthings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ftf-logo-300x186.pngLauren Hall2025-06-22 11:00:062025-06-18 12:41:57Bridging the Gap: When Mental Health Culture Meets Family History
Hope Comes Full Circle
In my last column, I wrote about hope as a skill. Hope isn’t passive, and it isn’t something we either have or we don’t. Like any skill, it has to be built through small choices, steady practice, supportive relationships and repeated evidence that change is possible. Once hope is developed in a person, it can…
The Stories That Make Us Strong
A dear friend of mine, who is a marriage and family therapist, recently sent me a piece of research because, as she put it, it reminded her of my family. This is both a compliment and a small accusation. I’ve often felt I know more family history than the average person should. Not just the…
Dad’s Earliest Job May Be More Important Than We Thought
Last Sunday, we celebrated Father’s Day. There were cards with handprints, neckties that may or may not ever be worn, backyard cookouts, phone calls, social media tributes and children proudly presenting homemade gifts involving glue, glitter and questionable spelling. Father’s Day gives us a chance to say what should probably be said more often: Dads…
The Sweet Spot of Growth
We recently moved into a house that is almost 100 years old, which means every day feels like a small adventure in charm, character and “what is that sound?” It has old floors, old doors, old windows and the kind of quirks you only love after you’ve signed the mortgage paperwork. It also has raspberry…
Overwhelm, Accountability and Relationships That Matter
Several people have told me lately that May feels less like spring and more like “May-cember.” It’s the December of the school year. There are graduations, field days, awards ceremonies, end-of-school parties, teacher gifts, final projects, Mother’s Day plans, Memorial Day travel, sports banquets, recitals, class celebrations, field trips, summer camp registrations and approximately 427…
What It Means to Put First Things First
First Things First is in the middle of a rebrand. Same name. Same mission. Deeper alignment. And as part of that process, I’ve had the privilege of sitting across from some of the founders of the organization and key stakeholders who prompted this work decades ago. I’ve asked them questions that sound simple until you…
The Complicated Truth About Second Chances in Relationships
Some people’s stories don’t come with clean endings. They don’t tie up neatly or offer us a clear hero and villain. They just sit with us, heavy, complicated, and unresolved. Recently, my family lost someone like that. They were the kind of person you wanted at your dinner table. Funny, warm, generous, compassionate. The first…
What Will This Generation Not Hear from Their Parents?
A friend recently posed a question to me that I have not been able to shake. He said that for many Boomers, the phrase they rarely heard growing up was, “I love you.” For many Gen Xers and older millennials, the missing phrase was often, “I’m sorry.” Then he asked: What will this generation say…
When Your Adult Child Hasn’t Launched
There is a particular ache in parenting adult children: they are old enough to vote, drive, and ignore your excellent advice, yet sometimes not quite old enough to stop making decisions that make you want to stare at the ceiling and reconsider every permissive moment since preschool. The job has changed, but the love has…
When “I Don’t Want to Parent” Goes Viral, Kids Still Have to Live There
Every few weeks, social media serves up a new kind of honesty: parents saying they love their kids… and also don’t want to be around them. Not “I need a break,” but “I only have about 10–15 minutes in me a day,” or “I don’t want to play,” or “My kids irritate me nonstop.” I…
Honoring Where You’re From While Building What Comes Next
The first time you pack a home to start a new one, you realize you’re not just moving furniture, you’re moving a culture. I found that out the year my husband and I wrapped and packed our new dishes next to his large trunk of travel souvenirs and my grandmother’s floral music box. On paper,…
How “Therapy Culture” has Increased Mom Guilt
Key Adult Milestones Are Not Being Reached: What That Means for Everyone
Here’s the truth about “adulting” in 2025: it’s a moving target. As a 35-year-old CEO of a family nonprofit—and a mom to a fearless two-year-old and a six-year-old who just discovered the magic of school lunch pizza—I think a lot about what our kids are growing up into. The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest look at…
The Low Down on Mental Health, Stress and Family Genetics
My brother and I had a lengthy conversation this week about mental health. We both work in what I’ll call “high-impact” jobs, though they seem worlds apart. Some days, coping and processing the stress can feel like mental gymnastics, flipping and stretching the capacities of our mental health. According to a 2016 meta-analysis on mental…
7 Stress‑Saving Steps for a Smooth Back‑to‑School Launch
If you listen closely, you can already hear it—the zip of fresh backpacks, the crinkle of notebook wrappers, and the collective gasp of parents realizing the days of “popsicles for lunch” are numbered. Whether your child is brand‑new to kindergarten or a seasoned locker‑door slammer, a little prep now will save everyone tears. Here are…
How Screen Use Can Shape Children’s Brains (and What to Watch For)
As a mom of two—I get it. Screens are everywhere. They’re helpful, entertaining, and sometimes, let’s be honest, the only reason we get to finish our coffee while it’s still warm. But as both a parent and the CEO of a nonprofit that helps strengthen families, I can’t stop talking about the effects screens have…
When and How to Discuss Tragedies With Your Children
The other night, my 6-year-old son looked up from his peanut butter sandwich and asked, “Mom, what’s going on in that place called Gaza? Everybody is talking about it.” I paused, mid-bite, suddenly aware that his little ears had caught news from the TV at his grandparents’ house. It’s a question many of us face:…
How to Help Young Kids Grow More Independent
My almost two-year-old daughter insists on putting her shoes on “by MY-self.” It takes five full minutes, a mild meltdown, and one backward sandal, but she makes it happen. Meanwhile, her six-year-old brother loves to “make his own breakfast”—which, in his world, means putting jelly on bread and pouring his own oatmilk. Was it messy?…
The Surprising Subject That’s Missing from Our Kids’ Lives
The other night, my six-year-old son asked, “Can something be true for one person but not for another?” And just like that, between spaghetti and bedtime, we stumbled into philosophy. I know—it sounds like something best left to college kids with thick glasses and lots of coffee. But recent research says otherwise. In fact, teaching…
Bridging the Gap: When Mental Health Culture Meets Family History
Something interesting is happening around kitchen tables these days. Families are talking more openly about things that used to stay quietly tucked away—anxiety, boundaries, burnout, childhood wounds. Mental health culture has brought these topics out of the shadows and into everyday conversation. That’s a good thing—mostly. But it’s also created a growing tension between generations.…