The Light that Leads Us
By Alyssa Crockett

Lately in my life I have become obsessed with light. Everything about it captivates me. There are so many cool parallels that God has been teaching me about light and this human experience, and most of all about His love. 

When I was a little girl my parents gave me a strawberry shortcake nightlight in hopes that my fear of the dark would be tamed a bit so that they could finally sleep through the night without drying too many tears. As I've grown older, I've mostly gotten over my fear of physically being in the dark, but sometimes being spiritually in the dark still frightens me. 

I feel like as humans it's part of our nature to want to feel like we are in control. We want to feel like we know what's going on, where we are, and where we need to go, and surprise! We don't always know those things. And to me, that has been a very real source of fear in my life. Am I okay? Is this going to work out? What is going on? It's easy to feel lost sometimes.

Over these past few months I know that Heavenly Father has been trying to teach me that it's okay to not know everything right now, it's okay to feel a little bit like a wanderer sometimes. In my own wanderings, I have felt my Savior Jesus Christ leading me with His light. Little by little He shows me that I am never alone, He shows me that as I trust Him His light will dispel the darkness, and the fear that accompanies it. I've learned through my own, rather rocky at times, journey that the commandment to fear not is given to us because Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much. They know that this life is scary at times, and that no matter how hard we try to stay in the light, sometimes our days can be clouded with mists of darkness. But They also know that if we will trust Them, and follow the Light of Christ that everything is going to be okay, and that because of Christ we don't have to fear. I believe that sometimes God takes away what we think we want to remind us that He is what we really need. He loves us, and has a perfect plan for each of us. I know that. And so can you. Light leads us, not only physically, but spiritually. I promise that Christ's light can lead you through, and cast out your fears, He did it for me and continues to, and He can do it for you.

​PAIN & JOY
By Melissa Whitehead

Recently I've learned how connected sorrow and joy really are. When we're young we experience smaller levels of pain and with it a smaller understanding of joy. As we grow older our problems and pain grow but our joy can grow with it. 

Think about some of the situations people talk about being the "best moment of their life." Maybe winning a championship, their wedding day, the birth of a child, etc. If you rewind several months before each of these things take place, they might be saying it's one of the hardest things they've gone through. The physical and mental effort it takes to win a championship isn't always glamorous. Dating the wrong people for years before we finally find someone that clicks with us can be tedious and full of heartbreak. Nine months of morning sickness, mood swings, and so much more, all topped off with childbirth... sounds unpleasant to me. Yet all three of these examples end in some of "the best moments" of people's lives. I believe it's because the depth of pain and joy really are connected.

One year ago I had a deep heartbreak. When I was younger I had lost friends and family to cancer, suicide, etc. so I thought I was somewhat familiar with loss and pain. This new heartbreak brought such a deep sorrow that I was worried about my own survival. However, the day after I received the initial news, God gave me an unexpected gift. He told me I would have His perspective of myself during this trial. I never would have thought to ask for something like that but it ended up saving me. It almost felt like an out-of-body experience because I still felt intense grief but at the exact same time, I felt as if I were another person looking down on myself. The pain wasn't any less but through this second perspective, I could see how the situation was changing me and even improving me. I realized I was simultaneously feeling pain and joy. 

I think this is a pretty unique situation but it showed me the direct tie between sorrow and joy. It has been a full year now and I think my heart is still healing but I also feel like this has been one of the happiest years of my life. I'm more grateful for people and the things around me. I'm a more confident person because I know I can make it through hard things. Most of all, I'm convinced that God is real and that He cares about our heartbreaks. It's easy to feel angry about our pain or the pain of a loved one, but now I know it can be our road to greater joy.

BE YOURSELF, BE HAPPY!
​By Ryan Johnson

I used to care so much about what people thought. In fact, for most of my youth, my main focus was trying to fit in. I wanted to be liked and accepted. This is probably a familiar feeling for many people in their youth, if not throughout their lives. But for me it was important enough that I was willing to become a follower. I was willing to compromise values and priorities in order to be considered cool. I tried to put myself in groups of people that were popular and appeared to be exciting, fun, cool people. I wanted to be like that too.

I would say that I was successful. I had a group of friends that liked me, and I felt accepted. The confidence they had made me feel like I could follow them and that I would be happy in doing so. But I didn't feel confident or happy. I thought that I just needed to be a little more popular, attractive, hip, and edgy, THEN I would finally feel confident and happy. Why was it that after years of living this way that I wasn't happy? It wasn't until my early 20s that I started to discover the reason. I realized that I was living to please others. Everything I did was to gain approval in the eyes of other people.

It was around this time that I started to be myself. This wasn't easy. I had trained myself to think more about what others thought of me than what I thought of me. But gradually I began feeling more confident. I was content to go without the validation of others. I was able to enjoy my own natural qualities and quirks, and I was not disappointed in myself for my flaws. I learned that I can be me, and I can be happy.

SPARK is excited for 2017 and all it will bring. We want to wish you a new year that is filled with love, peace, joy, health, prosperity, and everything good!

Coming soon are the "SINGERS of SPARK" blog posts (kind of like "Humans of New York" or "People of WalMart," just not as gritty). You'll get to learn about each member below-the-surface and find out what makes them tick. You might learn how they have grown into the person they are, what their dreams are, or maybe discover some hidden nuggets of wisdom that they've never shared publicly. Be watching!

New music videos are also in the works for the coming year. Our next video will involve some fun fan participation and details will be coming soon. In the meantime, we hope you'll continue to share our "Start a Fire" music video (released November 2016) so its message can travel far and wide. We love the truth in the lyrics and particularly in the bridge of the song: "You are the fire, You are the flame, You are the light on the darkest day. We have the hope, we bear Your name, we carry the news that You have come to save. Only You can save​." 

Want to know something crazy about the "Start a Fire" music video? Initially, we didn't set out to make a music video, we were just planning to do a publicity photo shoot in downtown Provo. Shortly before our shoot, we discovered the song "Start a Fire" and really liked the message and sound, so we decided to do a combined shoot. At first it felt pretty haphazard doing a photo shoot and video shoot simultaneously, but we ended up having a lot of fun. We recorded the vocals AFTER the filming of the video (which is why you don't see the group singing throughout the video). The director of photography for our video was our very own multi-talented SPARK member, Nick Sales. We were also incredibly lucky to have Cameron Gade as our camera operator and Kurtis Dallon as our photographer. All three men were extremely professional and good-natured (amidst the chaos of doing both shoots) and we ended up with a music video and photos that we are proud of. (We can't forget a shout out to Dan Williams for the editing the music video!)