Finding Joy
in the Mourning
A message of hope, healing, and the mercy found in the valley
Invite Dawn to Speak
A voice forged
in the valley
On February 10, 2023, everything changed. Dawn Sparks — photographer, wife, and mother of four — lost her 15-year-old son Julian to suicide. Out of that unspeakable darkness, she began to write. And then she began to speak.
Dawn brings something rare to the platform: she has lived it, she has studied it, and she is trained in it. Her voice carries the weight of genuine suffering and the light of hard-won hope.
Based in Colorado, Dawn is completing her graduate degree in clinical counseling while writing, speaking, and training alongside church and community leaders in suicide awareness and crisis response.
Graduate Student, Clinical Counseling
Master's degree in progress · graduating 2027
CAMS Certification
Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality
ASIST Training
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training
Church Suicide Awareness Training
Trained to equip faith communities in crisis response
Suicide Loss Survivor
Mother of Julian Taylor Sparks · November 1, 2007 – February 10, 2023
Professional Photographer & Writer
Author of The Break of Dawn journal · thebreakofdawn.net
Finding Joy
in the Mourning
Dawn's signature talk is a 5–7 minute journey from the darkest valley to the first light of dawn. Drawn from her own story of losing Julian, it is honest about the darkness and anchored in faith — and it leaves every audience with one unshakeable truth.
Appropriate for church congregations, grief groups, community gatherings, and anyone who has ever wondered if healing is truly possible.
A message shaped
for your audience
Dawn speaks from the intersection of personal loss, clinical training, and deep faith. Each talk is crafted for a specific audience — but every message carries the same heartbeat: you are not alone, and healing is possible.
You Are Not Alone in the Dark
A message for young people navigating mental health, identity, and the pressures of a world they're still learning to navigate — delivered by someone who loved a teenager deeply and wants to reach the ones still here.
The Valley Has a Name
For those who have lost someone to suicide — parents, siblings, friends, spouses. A message that names the grief honestly, sits with the questions, and offers the hard-won hope of someone walking the same road.
Equipping the Church to Hold the Hurting
A training message for church leaders, staff, and volunteers — combining suicide awareness, crisis response tools, and a vision for the church as one of the most powerful places in the world for people in pain.
Mourning Who You Were
For those navigating divorce, identity shifts, empty nests, or the quiet grief of a life that looks nothing like you planned. A message about releasing what was and finding the courage to become who you are.
Book Dawn
Invite Dawn
to speak
Dawn is available for speaking engagements, church events, grief conferences, training workshops, and community gatherings. She speaks from a place of genuine experience, clinical knowledge, and unwavering faith.
If you are walking through sorrow — or you serve people who are — Dawn would be honored to bring this message to your community.
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me."
Psalm 23:4