Wild Hope with Keith and Misti Sammons

In this deeply moving episode, we sit down with Keith and Misti Sammons—two individuals who turned unimaginable grief into a mission of hope. After losing their spouses (Keith to cancer and Misti in a tragic plane crash), their separate journeys of healing eventually brought them together through what can only be described as a divine appointment.

Together, they now minister to others navigating grief, loss, and hardship. From spontaneous spiritual clarity to real-life miracles, Keith and Misti share how their faith, community, and resilience helped them live and love again. We talk about the power of forward-thinking, the Happy Shoes Project (their ministry supporting cancer patients), and their upcoming book that captures their journey of heartbreak to healing.

This episode reminds us that no matter what we’re walking through, healing is possible—and purpose can rise from the ashes of pain.

Key Takeaways

• Divine Timing & Healing: Keith and Misti’s connection is a testament to divine orchestration. Their story encourages us to trust the timing of our lives—even in loss.
• Hope After Heartache: Both walked through grief differently—Misti experienced miraculous emotional healing; Keith found strength in worship, work, and community.
• Practical + Spiritual Healing: From prayer and scripture to running 5Ks and leaving the house, they highlight the need for both spiritual and practical steps toward healing.
• Forward Thinking Is Key: Whether it’s grief, depression, or adversity—having goals and surrounding yourself with positive people makes a major difference.
• The Power of Community: They stress the importance of not isolating and instead connecting with uplifting people who speak life into your journey.
• The Happy Shoes Project: Inspired by Keith’s late wife, this project delivers comfort and joy to cancer patients—because small acts of kindness go a long way.
• Living Life Again: Their forthcoming book, To Live and Love Again, explores their story with raw transparency and offers hope for anyone navigating “life after.”

Keith and Misti
https://www.keithandmisti.com/

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Transcript

Jason and Mindy Hoover (00:00.098)

Hey, Nashvilleans, welcome to the You Matter Nashville podcast, the place where every story we share is a celebration of you, the heartbeat of our community. I'm Jason Hoover, delighted to be one half of your hosting duo. And I'm Mindy Hoover, joining you alongside Jason to bring the stories of inspiring individuals and unsung heroes making a positive impact right here in our hometown. Every episode is about passions, dreams and actions that stitch together the Middle Tennessee community. So if you're looking to get inspired by the good happening around us,

Or if you want to hear from the change makers who believe, just like us, that you matter, then hit that follow button on your favorite podcast platform. And if you are looking to make a move in the middle Tennessee area, and Dan and I are real estate professionals and would be honored to serve you with excellence. Now let's dive into another episode of You Matter Nashville.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (00:52.194)

Welcome back to You Matter Nashville, where we explore stories of resilience, faith, and purpose. Today, we're honored to have Keith and Misty Sammons join us. Now, after experiencing profound personal losses, Keith and Misty found each other and united their passions to minister healing and hope to those around them. Through their combined ministries, they empower individuals to navigate the grief and rediscover their own purpose. Keith and Misty, thank you so much for taking time to be with us today.

Thank you so much for having us. We're always honored to share our journeys with anyone who's willing to listen. I love that. And your individual journeys through loss and healing are, they're just really, really moving you too. And I'd love for you to share how your paths crossed and what led you to start on this joint mission to support other people that are similar to you guys.

Well, I think the part of us getting together, that took place in 2019. I had been single at that point for eight and a half years, and Keith had been single for almost two, but we actually met at church. the kind of, you know those things where you know that God's telling you to do something, you don't know why, but you do it anyway. And then you feel, then you realize why.

I had been ministering at the church I had grown up in and I was pretty much like lay ministry. So I would fill in when one of the pastors was not there, that kind of thing. And in January of 18, God really started talking to me about, time here is done. And I'm thinking, why? I feel very integrated here. I feel like I have a purpose here. I'm using my degree.

Can we have a conversation on this? Yeah, I mean, I literally sat in church four Sundays in a row and cried and didn't know why. But he didn't actually release me until November of that year. And he told me which church to go to and I had no idea why he was sending me to that church. And just come to find out that that's the first Sunday that I was there was the Sunday that Keith noticed me.

Keith and Misti Sammons (03:15.862)

Yeah, I was sitting on the second row with the gentleman that I was doing some work with at the time. were, we, he, was managing an executive director of his outreach for suicide prevention with teenagers and wasn't doing music that day and wasn't singing at the church. So I called him and said, can I sit with you? And he said, sure. And halfway through the service, he looks at me and he says, Hey,

Two seats down, that girl doesn't have a ring on. You need to check her out. What?

This divine connection happening on the front row. I like their story better than ours. Can we just take theirs? Yeah, sure.

Yeah!

Keith and Misti Sammons (03:58.842)

He's the same guy that in room where my wife had passed away in intensive care, we were waiting on the funeral director to come and pick her up after she had transitioned to heaven. He looks at me and he says, hey, what are you going to do with your life? Are you going to get married again? Are you going to work for me? What's your future look like now? And I was taken back by that then.

But we were on the airplane flying out to an event a couple of weeks later and he said, don't be taken by that. I was just feeling like the Lord was directing me to speak to you in that way to help get your thinking forward so you didn't get hung up in a process of staying in a grieving process of looking backwards.

Wow, man, I'm already getting chill bumps and we're just minutes into it. Man, that's astonishing. When you do have those experiences, I know we've all had experiences like that because he even sent us down to the, I don't want to say, sent us to Texas, to a place in Texas. And I used to think he was just joking, but apparently he was serious.

You

Jason and Mindy Hoover (05:14.038)

It's one of the most poverished places and that's where he helped us flourish, which was completely, you wouldn't think, you know, why would you go somewhere that is very struggling for him to build us up? But when you had those experiences and you look back on them, does it even feel real at that point?

I don't I think it's surreal

Yeah, that's a thing. Way to put it.

you're in a numb spot, you know? And you really don't realize what's happening, but then you look back, they always say hindsight is 20-20. So you look back over it and you see the, the Bible says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. And you really may not understand how your steps are ordered, kind of just like where Misty and I are today with where we are living in Franklin. But you look back over it and you see how

how he was in it all.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (06:18.126)

Yeah. The, um, the part or you're not from Franklin y'all moved here. Can you kind of share a little bit how that occurred? That was interesting. We had the same, the same person that told Keith to look down the row. Uh, we were having dinner with, with him and his wife in 2022 and he looked at Keith and he said, are y'all moving? And

Keith looked at him and he was like, no. And I'm sitting there like, why are you asking us that?

just moved in our dream home, we were living what just like an exceptional life. I think we were so happy.

And he said, no, there's no chance of us moving. And he said, okay, just file that away and let me know how that works out. about four months later, we were in Nashville ministering at a church and we were driving back home to Chattanooga. And I just had this feeling overcome me of this feels like home. And I told Keith, said, I just had this feeling that this feels like home. we went, we got back to Chattanooga.

And I said, you know, I'm just going to look online and see what houses, if anything kind of sticks out. And the Lord was very clear of like, just no. And this was February of 23. Literally three months later, Keith is coming out of a restaurant. He said, I just heard the Lord say, go look in Nashville. And at that point, without going into specifics, there were just some things taking place in our lives that

Jason and Mindy Hoover (07:59.564)

The Southern term is that your nest is getting kind of, you know, wrestled and ruffled and you're just very uneasy. And I was getting very disen, you know, disenchanted with some things that were going on. And it was in this moment of just this kind of wrestling with the Lord of why do I feel this way that the Lord told us to go look. so we came to Nashville and we looked.

From Thompson station to Green Hills, we were just like, we don't know why we're even doing this. I really thought it was maybe just a test because the Lord does test us. Will you obey me? And we just felt nothing. And we went home and I was just like, you know, I think that was just God trying to see if we'd be obedient. I don't feel peace in that. And so Keith said, well, let's just pray that God gives us a clear cut sign.

Yeah, and that was on a Saturday night that we prayed. laying in bed like we normally do. We pray before we go to sleep each night. I knew Misty's the kind of person, and I'm learning her more and more. We've been married six years this coming June, and June 29th, I can be specific about that. I'm learning just like...

We bought a car for her a few months ago or a couple of years ago, and we were driving home from church and the trailer that was carrying the cars pulled into the dealership. And she said, I want that car up there. She said, I just don't know. So the next day I called the dealership and I said, there was a certain car on top of the trailer that was waiting to be unloaded the next morning. Is that car still available? And they said, yeah. And Misty went, drove it around the parking lot, not even out of the parking lot and said, I'll take it.

you know, she can make a decision like that. I'm to go to three dealerships and look at the same car in three different places and then try to wheel and deal and get the best price out of it. So, that's kind of the way the differences in who we are. So we were laying in bed and I prayed and I said, Lord, if you want us to move to Nashville, we need clarity on it. If you will speak the word Nashville through someone to us.

Keith and Misti Sammons (10:14.476)

or do a miracle that we only know that you're speaking to us. We'll move to Nashville or we'll stay here." The very next morning in church at the end of the service, the site pastor called Misty and I to the site and said, I want to speak to you guys. The Lord's given me something to share with you. And we said, okay. And he said, I really don't know. This is really real specific. And I'm not sure I've ever spoken like this to anyone before, but he said,

The Lord said He's going to use you guys and put you on stages and use your story around the world to help people who have been through what you've been through. And He said, I see you in political arenas. And He said, I don't know what that means, but I see you standing with political people. And then the next thing He said was the Lord told me to share this one word with you. I don't know what it means, but He said Nashville. The Lord said Nashville.

to each other like times

And so we're here in Nashville. We went home, cropping. said, Misty, it doesn't get any plainer than that does. And she broke down and started crying and said, I don't want to, I don't want to move. I don't want to leave my family. And so, we began the process, put our house on the market. It sold in less than 24 hours, more than asking cash money. we put our, our things in two big storage bins and Chattanooga and move from.

3500 square foot to 1300 square foot condo and we're here.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (11:44.462)

And you're here. my goodness. I would love to get into detail. what all you guys cover? Well, you know, cause I know you have a ministry, both of you have outside things that you do and you have ministries that you pour into. It's a lot. I would love to, guess top of mind. What would you like to cover first? Well, let's, like I said, I did lay ministry in a church. I finished my degree.

in I have an undergrad in history and then

Let's go back and you ran business before Scott passed away.

Yeah, my first husband and I owned a motor coach business. So the big tour buses, we had that in Mobile, Alabama. That's where he was from. so started that from scratch and I sold it a year after he passed and moved back to Tennessee and finished my degree, my undergrad that I had not finished in eight years. so I finished my bachelor's and then

a year off and then God directed me to go get my Master's at seminary. So I went to seminary and the next three years I did that and got my Master's in Theological Studies with a Biblical Studies emphasis. And I was at the church I grew up in and the pastor that was there at the time was just very kind and really took me under his wing and gave me so many opportunities to use

Jason and Mindy Hoover (13:14.974)

my gift. I didn't realize that God had given me the gift of teaching. And He saw that in me, I believe. so He gave me so many opportunities to minister in church. So I've done that. I have taught for the seminary. And right now I'm teaching at our church's college, which is the Belonging Co-College. And they are accredited by Southeastern University out of Florida.

And so I teach in their theology class. right now I'm teaching Greek, which is a lot of fun. So I do that. I speak at women's conferences. I've done some of those. then God just brings people into my life, women who have gone through the loss of a spouse. And He has allowed me to help them and be a listening ear and just kind of work with them and just talk them through those stages of grief that they're going through. It's just having a listening ear.

and that they can talk to somebody who understands the situation. I always say, don't know, I'm never going to say I know how you feel, because no one knows how you feel other than Jesus. But I can say I identify with how you feel. And so, I've had opportunities to do that. It's just, I'm kind of like, whatever opportunities God opens up. And you're validating their struggle.

Right. Right. Exactly. It's normal to feel these way. This way. I don't know who you talked to, but I'm just thinking through some of these people that struggle, they may have done things wrong, but you're validating it. they, whenever you validate that they are more at ease and can be better from that because they know, Hey, wait a minute, somebody actually is trying to understand me. Right.

That goes a long ways. It does.

Keith and Misti Sammons (15:13.614)

We share our stories. We've been through the grief and the loss of a spouse, misties to a plane crash, mind to cancer. But we feel like by sharing our story of overcoming adversity, that we can bring hope to somebody's life no matter what they're going through, whether it's divorce or whether it's financial situations, bankruptcy, or just life issues with family and friends and...

whatever they may be going through that makes them feel hopeless that they're struggling through. we feel like if you can share hope, with them through our stories, then there can be a, a light that would go off and a positive impact upon them that they can make it through. What if, if Keith and Misty can make it through the loft of their spouse, then, then I can make it through whatever I'm going through.

Yeah, that's deep. mean, guess both of you going through such a, I mean, to me, it would be horrendous journey of losing a spouse tragically like that. I'm just kind of assuming here, are y'all able to help each other with that? Well, it's kind of interesting. We do talk very openly.

about our former spouses and our journeys through that. We've always been a very open book about that because we had very different circumstances. Keith had to watch his wife deteriorate. And mine was that sudden shock. Completely different. mean, that's completely different. Some of our grief journey was the same. Some was different, but I was actually and this is part of

why I do what I do. But I was miraculously, instantaneously healed of grief, which is my testimony, nine months after Scott died. Please share that if you want me to elaborate that. If you don't mind. I will. Yes. It can be very lengthy. I've given my testimony in services a couple of times and it's taken

Jason and Mindy Hoover (17:27.894)

a good while, so I'm going to kind of condense it. But I mean, I've always grown up. mean, my parents were reading the Bible to me in utero. It's like my brother and I say we don't remember a time where we didn't pray or read our Bibles. And I'm very thankful for that because I don't know how people go through something like that without God. It's hard enough knowing that you have God with you. But

After Scott died, grief is very fascinating. had days where, and this is like right after, because the FAA had to do an investigation. So when we had his wake five days after his passing, there was nothing in the casket. No, everybody didn't know that, but they hadn't released his bones yet. So we had to wait a whole nother week before his actual graveside, when they finally released his remains to us.

So it's interesting. It's like I was completely fine at the wake and I felt this strength from the Lord that really does pass all understanding. And then at his actual funeral service, was a mess. So there are those ups and downs. And I remember getting to a point where there is this point of desperation, I think, where your faith just kind of hits this. Even if it doesn't make sense to me, I'm going to believe for it anyway.

And I was praying and crying one morning and I said out loud to the Lord, you talk way too much in your word about joy and rejoicing for me to feel this way because I'm miserable. I went to a point one time where I really thought I was having a nervous breakdown. That's just how much grief I was dealing with. And I said, if you're able to heal bodies and you are all powerful, then you can heal my heart.

And so I'm going stand on Mark 11, 23 and 24 that whatever I ask for in prayer, I'm going to believe that I receive it and that it's mine and that I have it. So I'm asking you to heal my heart and I'm not going to ask you for it anymore. I'm just going to thank you for it. And every day after that, I would get up and I would say, thank you God that my heart is healed. Thank you God that my heart is healed. Now I would like to say that I did that with complete faith.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (19:56.738)

and never turned to anything else, but that's not the truth. I tried to hide it for a long time, but it is part of my testimony is that I also turned to drinking. Owning a business and it was a large business that I was always in the background and now is having to be on the forefront of it was a lot. Getting compared to my late husband was a lot. And so I'd have friends say, Hey, just come and meet us at the bar. We'll have a drink.

And I didn't grow up in a household that drank. And so I didn't really know what I was doing. I didn't know what my limit was. And I just liked, for a little bit, I'm out of this pain. But what they don't tell you is the hangover makes you feel 10 times worse than the pain ever was originally. But I was riding this fence of getting drunk every weekend and medicating with alcohol.

and then still believing God to heal me. And I just say that we have a very merciful God. We have a very loving God who knows us better than we know ourselves. And in that time, he still was working with me and he was still speaking to me and directing me. And I got to a point in August of 2011, so nine months after he had died, almost nine months, and I was actually ironically in Nashville.

for a business meeting and got horribly drunk. Just the worst I had ever been drunk in my life. And I got up the next morning very hungover and in my hotel room, I just had this kind of point of saying, God, I don't know what else to do. I need you to heal me. I'm not living this double life anymore. So you just need to tell me what to do. Just tell me what to do for this pain to be gone. Cause I know you're able to do that.

And he put me on a three day fast. So when I wasn't in meetings, I was in my room praying. And at the end of that third day, I was in my room praying and I heard this phrase, the plan of the enemy has been thwarted. And I thought, that's an old English term that I don't use. I know what it means, but I don't use that. So I'm thinking this must be from the Lord, because I wouldn't just come up with that.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (22:21.644)

And when I said it out loud, I literally felt something in my chest. It felt like something just went out of me. And in that moment, it's like I had an emotional rebirth is the best way I can describe it. I sat there in a state of shock. It's like I had passed from one side to another and that grief that I had felt, the pain I had felt was instantly gone. And to the point that even when I talked to my parents immediately after,

without me saying anything that had happened to me, they said, what's happened to you? They could hear it in my voice. And I sat there kind of shocked and I went home and saw the Lord of just what is going on. Like, I don't even feel like I'm the same person anymore. What is this? And he said, I healed you. He took me to Isaiah 61 and he said, I healed you so that you could help others go through what you've gone through.

He took me to Isaiah 61.3, the oil of joy for mourning, that you'll comfort those who mourn in Zion. And so literally, I've had people say, oh, you'll cry again. You'll grieve again. It's been almost 15 years and I have not cried over him. I said, he's a beautiful chapter of my life, but I'm still here and I have an assignment to do or else I'd been in that plane with him.

So what is my assignment? That's what gives you purpose to keep moving on. And I said, that's not me rejecting him or trying to forget him. He's in our daily conversations, but that's me honoring him because I'm living my life and I'm living it to help others go through and to walk that path out and to say, you can have joy again. You can live restored again. And that's my testimony. It won't happen the same for everybody, but it could.

And I know that it's not something that we normally hear about in a testimony, but that is what God has done in me. I'm living proof that it's just like I don't remember that pain.

Keith and Misti Sammons (24:26.806)

And the grief process is real. We don't want anyone to think that we are not negating the fact of the heaviness of the grief process. But both of us had two different ways that we walk through it. I, I became a workaholic and worked more in the days after then than I ever worked. I, medicated with coffee and

And that's another story. I came off of coffee after a few months and had complete DTS where I was in the hospital, from caffeine overload and it was a narcotic, going into withdrawals from really from coffee and from working in and just running myself till I was physically unable to go. and, so those are the processes that we both went through separately.

there were days that I would come home and I would fall on the floor and just whale crying in brokenness over my heart. But yet at the same time, God was so faithful and he was so present and, he would just, just wrap his not to be cliche, but his arms around me, his peace would flood my life. And I had people that were speaking into me, keeping me forward thinking the gentleman that spoke to me and we talked about earlier.

He kept my thoughts forward thinking rather than thinking about staying in a spot of heaviness. While we were in the hospital when my wife was passing, there was several of us there. We were singing, doing music. I was a music pastor for over 25 years and still involved in the music ministry now, but for over 25 years in music ministry. So we began to just gather and

worship in the room while my wife was transitioning to heaven. And someone spoke out and said, I want to share with you something. The Lord's laid on my heart and he said, beware of the spirit of grief, grief, but don't be overcome and overweighted with that spirit as you walk through this. And that stuck with me. And over the next days and months, as I would feel this heaviness of grief come upon me, I would make sure that I, number one, got in the word and I prayed.

Keith and Misti Sammons (26:42.85)

But number two, that I would put myself in a position around people that weren't going to feed into that and keep me in the heaviness. But that would, that I would get myself out of that mindset and into a mindset of forward thinking, whether it was to put myself in another place to leave the house. If I was there and grief was overcoming to get around somebody positive or sometimes just go sit at Starbucks to 11 o'clock, they closed and then go to the waffle house and sit there till four till I couldn't hold my head up anymore.

But we put ourselves in a place, both of us, to where we were forward thinking, where we were allowing the Word. I mean, the Word of God says that He would comfort there. He sent a comfort to those who are walking through grief. Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil for thou art with me. And I think as believers and even non-believers, that grief becomes a place that they want to stay. But...

The scripture allows us to know that we can grieve. Jesus grieved, He cried, He wept over Lazarus, but He moved forward and still had His ministry. whether we're business people or whether we're ministers, which we have been involved in both, people need to understand that grief is very real. It is very heavy. If you need therapy to get through it, get therapy.

But also don't negate the fact that scripture and God has made a way for us to walk out of that and live our life again, which is where we are today, living our lives again. We talk about our spouses, we talk about grief, we talk about the process, but we encourage people, whether it's one-on-one or in a group setting or on a corporate setting, that whatever you're going through, God's made a way and He did it for us and He'll do it for you.

And you know, the forward thinking period, no matter what you're going through, it's grief, hurt, know, just anything that's negative. You know, if you sit there in it, it just festers and it just gets worse and worse. Depression sets in. Having those goals, always thinking forward and having something to look forward to is so key. mean, that can preach on so many levels, you know, in our lives.

Keith and Misti Sammons (28:58.878)

We call them keys to living life after death for us. It was death or living life of hope. But things that you do to put yourself in a forward thinking position. Sometimes you may have to get people who are feeding. You know, there's people, some people that they feed off of the negative and feed off of staying in this spot and then feed off of helping you stay there by telling you how bad it is and can't believe that you're having to walk through this and.

I don't know how you're gonna make it. And the words of negativity, so sometimes you just gotta put those people out of your life and those words out of your life and put yourself into a position where you're hearing positive affirmation.

Yeah, that's good. Being around positive, know, growing up you hear, you know, lie down with dogs or wake up with fleas. I mean, it's the kind of same thing. And I was telling Jason this past week, my mom, she preached so much about goal setting and she'd always use the verse, you know, without vision, you know, the people perish because she's like, you have to have vision. have to because we lived in a small town. There was lots of drugs. There was lots of depression. And she would say those people lost sight. Those people lost sight of, you know, where they need to be.

And I was like, there's one thing I learned from my mom. was always set goals, always look forward and, or you can get stuck and be somewhere you don't want to be. and also knowing her backstory, I understand, you know, why she was always like that, but she was just always just keep going, just keep going. So it's, it's true. And, and preaches across so many different things, but it's, love that. I love that you guys have people around you.

that supported you and helped you to look forward. Cause sometimes you can't buy yourself, you know, sometimes it's so dark, you can't, it's hard to see. And that's where that support system is just invaluable.

Keith and Misti Sammons (30:41.325)

Right.

Keith and Misti Sammons (30:48.808)

Yeah. And sometimes you've got to make yourself not be alone. Yes. It's easy to get in a place where you're at home or you're in your apartment or you're, you're maybe away from people. and then you're alone and then you get in that cocoon of aloneness and that overcomes you sometimes. So you've got to, that's another thing you've got to make sure you get yourself like, like we were talking earlier, you got to get yourself out of that cocoon of loneliness.

it's, it, takes work. it is a, it is, it's a process, but it's something that you got to force yourself. Like I'm going to the gym now again, and I have to force myself out of the bed at four 10 every morning and go at the gym at five o'clock. That's just me. That's my process. That's my, that's my burden to bear right now, but I make myself do it. And that's the same, maybe the way it is with, with going through whatever you're hurting, don't allow yourself to get in, that cocoon and stay there.

That's good. Yeah. I don't know about 410, but I need to, I'm going to get back in shape myself.

See you

We might high five each other passing. I know. Our problem is like we put our gym in our cocoon. That's our problem. You know, people that are listening, you know, I think there's a lot of people that go through this, you know, whether it's grief, you know, career wise, relationship wise, you know, just depression. It is a...

Keith and Misti Sammons (32:06.177)

Hahaha

Jason and Mindy Hoover (32:27.18)

I would say it's definitely something the enemy uses against us. you going back to what you're saying, isolation is where, you know, he wants us to be. And, know, you, you're more pliable when you're isolated. but you can, you can even, I guess, increase that if you're around the wrong people. it, you know, as much as I love learning about neuroscience, you know, it's, it's so interesting.

to see how we are learning more about ourselves, about how our brains work, our body makeup. And I correlate it back to scriptures. It's like, wow, this was already written many, many years ago. And now we're seeing the, you know, why, why we think, why we do the things that we do. You know, it's just like being around positive people.

I can't remember, was it Dr. Covey, you're the son of the five people you hang around the most? Yes. And that is biblical as well. You will become who you're associated with. know, in flipping going back to the isolation, it's so easy as humans to go down that path. You know, because

Everything starts changing. You you've heard the saying what you focus on expands Mm-hmm. Well, that's with anything that's good or bad Yeah, you focus on it, you're gonna see more and more more bad things, right? Mm-hmm So, you know both of you guys dealing with grief that you're able to help people and You know, one of the most powerful thing is saying hey

I understand.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (34:26.702)

Because somebody that's going through it feels they, people don't understand them. And that's the isolation. Yeah. Feeling alone, feeling alone through all of it. or embarrassed to share their grief or what they're going through or whatever their situation may be. And then like you were saying, you know, that's just the way the devil can kind of work themselves in when you're alone, you know, and that's the strength of small groups, the strength of, you know, you're,

your little power group that you have that you hang out with your five. So I get it. I get it. Yeah. That's why, you know, so we told my students, said, the lie of the enemy is to say that no one knows how you feel and that you are completely alone. Yeah. And the mind games are real. They are. Yeah. They're very real. it changes your paradigm. It does.

And I even tell people, I give them practical things. mean, you know, not everything has to be spiritual. God puts practical things in our lives. You know, like I started running after Scott died. Physical activity is, said, I love to quote Legally Blonde, exercise produces endorphins, endorphins make people happy. It's just true. exactly. And you know, it just started me, I had a goal of running a 5k and

You know, I started running with who she was my sister-in-law at the time. but I noticed that I was much better emotionally if I kept the physical activity up. mean, God does put those things in us. He created us entirely. So he made those processes work. and I said, you know, like change your environment. I said more than once, God would say, listen, you're allowed to grieve, but you're not allowed to wallow in it.

Get up and go do something. Go see a movie. Go hang out with some friends. Like go do something, but don't sit in here and wallow in it.

Keith and Misti Sammons (36:29.006)

And Misty hit on something there. your body is made to heal. Like if you cut your finger or you cut something, it's to bleed for a second and then it's to clot and the blood and there's going to be a healing process and, it's going to itch. It's going to hurt. It's going to, it's going to be wounded for a little while, but after a while that's gone and you can't even tell the scar was there. So why can't we go through emotional things and go through, grief.

and realize that if God can heal this part of the external body, how much more can he heal the internal part, our mind, our spirit, mind, body, our soul. And so many times we get hung up on that and we don't, you know, I go into the chiropractor and it says we move the bone, but God heals the body. And so, you know, our bodies and our complete makeover are so made to overcome adversity.

And, we don't have to stay in it. mean, that's the, this is not heavy. It can sound heavy and it can be heavy, but this is a good thing that we're talking about. People can overcome and live life to the fullest.

You know, that was very well said. I've never heard it put that way, but you're absolutely right. Our body is made to heal and that's the whole part of the body. And, know, we are, you know, we're, we're, know that much about our brains and which is, I was about to say mind boggling, but that's a pun, which is just crazy that we know so little about ourself.

You know, it's like, know so much more about the outer space than we know about what's in our skull between our ears. It's true. No, other than, go ahead. just want to that, not, I know sometimes that I have had people think that I sound very harsh. That's not to say that you don't miss those people. yes. No, you but it's not staying in, a dark place, right? It's not seeing in a dark place.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (38:32.055)

And that's what we tell people is you don't have to stay in a dark place. No, the memories. It's beautiful to have the memories.

Yes. And that's why I think, you know, that the, spouses are part probably of our daily conversation, whether it's laughing about something they said or just rehearsing, you know, part of life.

I that you're not jealous of that. You know what I'm saying? Like in a weird way, I can see where some people would be jealous of the memories the other person may have. But did both of you see it as I had this beautiful part of my life. You're now my present, but I still want to honor, you know, everything that happened. And I know you guys also honor those people in, your ministry. Now it's not something that you guys

you know, just talk about at home. You guys also have ministries to honor them, correct? And then one of them is the happy shoes project that you guys have. Yes.

Yes. That the happy shoes project is a, like give back to cancer patients. My, my first wife went through cancer. while she was going through cancer, she wrote about the shoes that she was wearing one day and made a post on Facebook and said, these are my happy shoes of the day. The post was personal, spiritual, inspirational, and it was literally about the color, the style, the texture of that shoe. and post it, people loved it.

Keith and Misti Sammons (39:55.87)

over time they began to send her shoes and whether it was a red, white and blue stars and stripes pair of sparrows for the 4th of July or mother's day, a bright yellow pair or whatever. She wrote about the shoes that she was wearing at the time and, and tailored made them to the site, to the seasons. And, we were in the process of putting those writings into book form to give them away to cancer patients, to encourage them. And, she decided to go to heaven and we were left with.

those thoughts and those ideas and family and friends encouraged us. And we now run a charity called the happy shoes project. and we used a little cliche that she wrote. She wrote, what do you do while you're walking through the process of healing, keep walking by faith. And so we use that as our mission statement and it's called, our mission is to, inspire cancer patients to keep walking on their journey through treatment. And so we give totes back to adults, with a blanket and her book.

music, things that will help them through treatment, mints, gums, things of that nature. And then we have a voucher in every tote and they can go online and order their own pair of happy shoes and compression socks. And we have volunteers that will take those and deliver them into their home. And if they need prayer, our people are equipped to pray with them and just, just to be there, maybe give them a hug and just inspire them on their journey. have a kids program. wrote a

kids book called happy shoes, really bright, colorful, illustrated hardback kids book and a companion coloring book. And we do the same for kids that are going through treatment as well. so that's just a give back that we do. We have someone that runs the day to day operations of that. And Misty and I raise the funding and run the back office of that. And we do different, different events and write grants and do what we can to raise the funding to make that happen.

I love that. Even those little bitty things go so far. Mints doesn't matter. It's the thought that really, really, really does count. Especially, we had just a small stint in the children's oncology ward with our daughter. We were there maybe two weeks, so nothing like what people have to go through. And just our experience there with the hospitality, the people, it all

Jason and Mindy Hoover (42:21.358)

the little bitty gifts they've come by and she got to pick out pillowcase. Yeah. And she still uses it and she's 22. I mean, it's like a baby comfort. You know, it got her through a hard time. Yeah. So I love that you, you guys do that. That's amazing.

Well, thank you. Thank you. It's, it's, it's part of what we do. And, we enjoy giving back to people and being a part of, of bringing inspiration and hope to people. So,

Share a little bit more, you've got another ministry,

Well, Misty and I will speak wherever the doors open. We travel and speak, whether it's in corporate America and sharing our story or whether it's in a church. as Misty said, she does ladies meetings. I will do men's meetings. I also was a music pastor for over 25 years and, currently living here in Nashville, the opportunity to write music, has afforded itself to me. So I'm doing some, songwriting and publishing.

also doing some recording of music and traveling and singing as solo artists. and we're, we are very happy that we're able to do that. And whenever the opportunity arises, we are able to do that and grateful for it.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (43:42.336)

Now, together you guys are working on a book, is that right? Yes, we spent, it's been a little over a year and a half ago, we spent four days with a ghost writer. Okay. And one of the most emotionally exhausting processes I've ever gone through. really? You know, it was three...

Yes.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (44:09.966)

or four four hour stints of just pouring out everything. Which, you we're well versed in doing. I mean, I've been doing it for, you know, over a decade, but just tapping into it wasn't just a tell, he'd say why. In his mind, he said, when I write, I want to be you in my writing.

And we told him, said, let's, let's just do this in a couple of days. He said, no, he said four to five hours is enough. Trust me. And we said, we can do it in a couple of days. He said, no, we're going to spread this out. Trust me. And so,

But it's a beautiful, it was about a year process. We actually had to go to Charlotte and meet with him and we spent about seven hours just doing edits on it and doing some clarifications. So we had the manuscript and it's really interesting. It'll start with a little theological insight. He tapped into my love with that. And then it tells part of my story and then it'll kind of have a cliffhanger and then it'll switch over to Keith.

And then he'll end that chapter on a cliffhanger, but he'll have reflection questions like, what did this story mean to you? How have you encountered these feelings in your life? And it does that throughout the book, all the way up to where we meet. And then the process of us blending a family. I didn't have any children from my first marriage. We'd been married 10 years, but we didn't have any children. But I became a stepmom to Keith's son at 39 years old.

And so just the process of how we did that and the fact that Keith's former in-laws were very much as much of his parents as his own biological parents. And he's like, Hey, they come along with me. so just navigating that and just, and we're very raw and transparent. that's more on my end of it, about what that looks like and

Jason and Mindy Hoover (46:12.194)

What were the?

more difficult for Misty, think, because you know, ladies process differently. I that's not a negative thought. They just process things. especially when I've been married to a lady, she's gone. Her parents are still here, you know, to the fact that we go stay with them. And one of the really big deals was we had to sleep in one of the bedrooms, which happened to be the same bedroom that my first wife and I slept in when we were at their home.

That was a very difficult thing for Misty. I said, don't worry about, we'll go get a hotel. If that bothers you, we'll, we'll do something else. But she, I guess she sucked it up and made it work. till they sold their home. Now we, you know, we don't have to go. We don't have to go to that room, but even to have them in our lives, I think that's a huge thing because many people, when they lose a spouse, there's, through that process of grief and loss, hard feelings come and.

Many people just never speak again after that. And, that's, that's a blessing to have them and, they're my son's grandparents. And this is a lot of people don't, they think this is really weird, but we've been on a couple of vacations over the last six years and, Misty's parents, my first in-laws, Misty and I, my son, daughter-in-law and grandbaby and, Misty's brother and family. We've all been in one condo.

on a golf trip before together and, and we survived. So there's a lot of blending that goes on and, it's, it's, it's not been easy. You know, there has been some difficult roads for us to walk through, on that front.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (47:56.172)

And surely it's all just by faith, blind faith.

Yeah, yeah, you just go through it. There is no manual.

Cause there's no manual for this. And you know, the sad thing is, is I don't have any, communication at all with Scott's family. you know, we just suffice it to say we just parted ways peacefully. I think when I left, they felt like they were losing their son all over again. but you know, I grew up in Tennessee and there was nothing keeping me immobile anymore. And,

You know, we, it's like I said, we just, we just parted ways peacefully. So, you know, there's that dynamic too of, you know, just kind of processing all that. And that is in this book.

It's in the book. And then for us and not to, not to, to get into a positive point for Misty and I, to have our lives together and to be able to live life again. And that kind of brings us to what the title of the book was. And we love this, kind of tentative title, but it's to live and love again, living life after, and, the living life after is whatever you're going through. You can live it, but the, positive side is that Misty and I found love.

Keith and Misti Sammons (49:14.41)

after losing our spouses and we have a wonderful life together. and we're, we're so happy and, we, we love each other. We love spending time with each other. We love helping people. Like Misty said earlier, it's kind of this conversation has come, you know, full circle. many times it's whether it's a guy or whether it's a lady or a family that has walked through some process and they need somebody to encourage them. we're able to do that and we're, we're believing

to get the book published, we're, we're, right now just shopping publishers and we've got the manuscript on hold and, looking for the right partnership so that the book can get into the hands of the most people and to the hands that need it the most and a publisher that will partner with us, and help us to make that happen because we believe the story is powerful and, and that people need to hear it.

It's definitely powerful and I haven't even read it already. Just by meeting you guys. Yeah. And I pray that your story of hope can be able to get out there as soon as possible. mean, I you guys put a lot of work into that. And if there's anything we need in the United States, more than anything, and that is just stories of hope that there is a continuation of our life after tragedy and grief.

I love it. Thank you guys so much for sharing and being vulnerable and that.

Thank you. We're happy to do it. And thank you all for allowing us to use your platform to do that here in Nashville and around the world, I suppose.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (50:54.294)

Absolutely. Yeah, we love it. We love having people like the two of you on that are making differences in other people and you're doing it from the heart, not from the pocketbook. I do have one last question myself. I don't know if you have one. Okay. But I got one last question. Just out of curiosity, you both experienced something completely devastating and life changing. At that point, when you look back, you in...

Do you look back and think, okay, this wasn't, this wasn't who, or that's who I was at that point. I am a different person now. And did I, and did you get to kind of just, you know, create your new self? You know, it's almost like that, that back, you know, the, what am I trying to say? Help me out here. Words are hard. That pivotal moment that separates who you were and who you are. Yeah.

Did you, do you understand what I'm saying? Yes. Okay. Um, yes, there, I don't think you can go through anything like that and stay the same. You're you, there's a lot of growing up. do. I was 31 when Scott died. Um, and it, like an example was

You can go first.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (52:20.962)

We had worked so hard in our business and my goal was to have our dream home. I wanted our business to be successful so I could have my dream home. And the week before he died, we had put a contract on our dream home and I moved into it two months after he passed. And I remember sitting there and thinking, I got everything I worked so hard for. And it means absolutely nothing because I'm by myself. I'm not sharing it with someone.

And that was one, that's just an example of one of those things of like your goals and your ideals start to change. But the other thing is, is even though I had a very strong relationship with God, it was radically transformed. I mean, that's where your faith, you ask, I asked a lot of questions, not in a disrespected way. It was just like, God, I just want to understand some things.

I want to know you more. And I tell people that those times where you can grow the most are in your trials. yeah. Because those are the opportunities to really know God more. I heard God more than I've ever heard him in my life in those dark times. I felt his presence more in those trials. And even the one since then I've had, it's in those

moments. And I think it's because we surrender us and we lean fully into Him. And we say, just tell me what I need to do. Tell me who you are. Show me who you are. Because I'm letting all of myself will go. And I don't think you can come away from that experience with God and not be transformed. And it's not something I don't think you consciously do. It's just something you just kind of morph into.

I don't recognize my old self. I don't even really remember my old self except to think that she thought she was very mature and grown up and you know, owning a business and all these other things. But I really don't think I was a full adult until my mid thirties. After experiencing those things and noticing how temporal minded I was. I was so focused on temporal things.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (54:42.828)

Instead of, you when somebody dies, you start thinking about eternity quite a bit. And what are you working for? What is the purpose of your life? Is it to get that dream home or is it to be told, well done? So I think that that's, that was definitely a pivotal point in my life. And I think any kind of trial you go through, you're going to have some kind of shifting if you allow it to do its work in you. I like that.

And, and, and, lot of people do, but not everybody gets the chance to do it twice. And I think for, for me, the no regrets, I don't think I have any regrets and I don't think anybody should allow themselves to have regrets, live life to the fullest, do the best you can, you know, and when something happens like the tragedies that we had, look back over it and don't allow regrets to dictate your life. But

allow that to change you for the second time around, you know, and love better, love stronger, love harder, treat people well, learn from the mistakes that you may have be reminded of that you may have made, which, you know, mine may have been many, but you're, you're also reminded of the brevity of life. And, you're also reminded, I was asked after a few months after Sandy had passed away,

is did you not get angry with God? And I know that's one of the five stages of grief. Misty went through anger. She went through a great time of anger, getting mad at Scott, getting mad at God, the whole thing. I never got mad at Sandy. I never got mad at God, seriously. But I allowed myself to walk through that and just, I don't know whether it was just, I was...

you know, overwhelmed with work or if it was really that the Lord just gave me the ability to navigate through those days and hurt, cry, grieve, but lean on him heavy. And, when you lean on him, you know, things are so much easier. and so I don't, think, you know, one of the five stages of grief is, is anger. I didn't go through that part. and,

Keith and Misti Sammons (57:00.236)

That's not to say that everybody will or everybody won't, but navigating through the days after and the days of learning to live again. to me, it's just learning that, second time around, let's do it right. Yeah.

She used to do better the next time. That's something I teach my kids. was like, know, being mom, don't make the best decision sometimes. You know, we act to have emotion or whatever else. We do what we think is best at the time and we still screw up. But every time you do something in life, just build on that. Be better next time. Do better next time. I love that. So for people listening,

How could they get in touch with you and learn more about you guys and maybe even have you come speak?

We would love that. we have a website that is Keith and Misty.com and that is Misty with an I I S T I Keith A N D I S T I.com Keith and Misty.com and all of our information is on there. have a young lady that, helps us with our schedule. It's called the street agency and she books us and her contact is there. our personal contact is there email us, look at our information. have,

some episodes of podcasting that we've done on YouTube. We also have different videos that are connected to our website that tell our story and will help people to better understand who we are and where we are in life and ministry.

Jason and Mindy Hoover (58:37.944)

Fantastic. Well guys, thank you all so much for your time. thank you for what you guys do. Thank you for being who you are. I love your heart. You guys are just beautiful. You really are. coming through such a past and turning that around and blessing so many other people. Yeah, I know God's smelling big for you. And I just thank you.

that you love other people enough to take time from your day and make that happen and help other people find that there is hope. There are people who care. There are people that want to help. And so thank you for doing that. Thank you for your time on this podcast. And that, guess that's a wrap. We will, we appreciate everybody listening in and I do highly encourage you if you have, if you're going through anything,

that's like this, please reach out to people like Keith and Misty or if somebody else, just find some kind of help. Please find help. There is help. There are people that care. are people that love you. And just remember that you matter. Your voice always matters. And we can all together make this world a better place.

So thank you for listening. Thank you for being on the show again and everybody have a fantastic day. And that brings us to the end of another episode of You Matter Nashville. We hope today's show has left you feeling as uplifted and inspired as we are. Remember the spirit of Nashville lives in all of us and every small act of kindness echoes throughout the community. A huge thank you for listening and even being a part of our You Matter community. If you love this episode, please share with friends and leave us a five star review.

It helps us reach more listeners and spread the love. And if you know anyone that is looking to make a move to Middle Tennessee area, we are real estate professionals known as the Hoover Team, and we would be honored to serve them with excellence. Until next time, keep making a difference Nashville. You matter more than you know.