A Note of Appreciation

It has been almost four months since I had my heart attack. I could write many things about the time that I spent, but here are a few. I was in the hospital for forty-five days. As I was lying in bed in the hospital I was reading Philippians. I read these verses.

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,  always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to
completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, [d]  both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”(Phil 1:3-11).

I had read these verses many times before. I had always thought of Paul and his deep relationship with the Philippians, his time with them and how they had walked with him through the good times and bad. But it never was personal to me. It became very real to me while reading and staring at the ceiling tiles of the hospital room. I will not compare myself or what I experienced with Paul, but the idea of his love for the Philippians and their love for him is evident. It also became evident to me. As the community of believers rallied and supported Paul, the community supported my family and I. I was amazed, never in my life have I had so much love and support from the body of Christ, I thank you.

Let me tell you a few highlights. First: the real hero is Rachel my wife. She not only took care of the home, the family, the finances, she drove to Hamilton three times a week to see me. She always was joyful. She is the hero of this. There were many people who went out of their way to see me. Since most people had to travel an hour each way, that is amazing to me. Being in the hospital for 45 days, does get boring and the nurses were tired of talking to me. We were and have been taken care of financially. From the gifts of money that appeared out of no where, to gift cards in our mail box. My favorite story is someone put gift cards in our mail box, with a card expressing that it was from a church family- from a church I had not even heard of.

Most of all, it was the encouragement that I treasure. I do what I do because I have been called by God to do it, and I enjoy it. The years have gone by and I have had no idea how God has touched people. I must say thank you. The prayers and support for my family and I have been beyond expectation. When people heard about what was happening, my phone blew up. I do apologize to people who I never responded to, but for two weeks in October I really could hardly physically handle the phone, let alone text back and forth to people.

Currently (March of 2026). I am back at work full time. The doctors have expressed that I am doing very well in my recovery. I can not begin to explain the gratitude towards Jesus and His church, which is you. We have all been amazed. As Paul reflected on how the church at Phillipi supported him, he grew in joy. As I reflect on how the church in Niagara is a support, I am overwhelmed.

~ Scott Knoechel