Mindy Lee Hopman

Power Couples 

Happy Monday! On this Presidents Day which falls right after Valentine’s Day, I think it’s fitting to highlight a few presidential love stories  as we pursue true, perfect love. 

Grace Goodhue met Calvin Coolidge in 1903. Grace was 25-years-old and Calvin was her 32-year-old neighbor. She was watering flowers in front of a Northampton, Massachusetts boarding house when Grace saw Calvin shaving his face dressed in a derby hat and underwear! Grace laughed and immediately turned away when she realized he saw her. Coolidge convinced a friend to introduce him to her and it was then he explained that the derby hat kept his crazy hair out of his face while shaving! The couple was married in October 1905. He would later be sworn in as the 30th President of the United States in 1923.

Lyndon Johnson met 22-year-old Claudia Taylor at a Texas office in August 1932, when Johnson was serving as the secretary to a Congressman in Washington D.C.. Johnson asked her on a date that she skipped, however, Johnson soon spotted Taylor, and the two began talking. Breakfast turned into a drive around Austin and an all-day date. He even proposed. Lady Bird didn’t want to rush into marriage. The two began exchanging letters when Johnson returned to D.C. Many of those Courtship Letters are available for viewing today. Apparently, his words were enough to win her over. They were engaged 10 weeks after meeting and married at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio on November 17, 1934.

The 33rd President of the U.S. couldn’t forget meeting young Miss Bess Wallace in their Sunday School Class.  They attended grade school together, even high school. They graduated in the 1901 class from Independence High School. Truman proposed in 1911, but Wallace gave him no answer. When World War I broke out, Truman went to war and they were married in 1919.

President Ronald and Nancy Regan were a true American love story. The affectionate President Regan wrote beautiful letters to Nancy at all times. He said, “When she walks out of a room, I miss her and my life never truly began until I met her.” Ronald Regan was a strong successful President, yet affectionate and romantic with his bride. 

These power couples displayed great acts of love and resilience in office, and many people would say they had “perfect love.” While no love on this side of heaven is perfect, they certainly give us a glimpse of it! 

Imperfect People Who Serve a Perfect God

So where does true, perfect love actually come from? Many people look for complete satisfaction from their spouses, but humans are imperfect people who serve a perfect God. Perfect love for all people may be found in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. 

The search for perfect love is over once we find Him. However, there is an adversary who does not want us to find this perfect love. He wants to blind us from knowing the truth. 

In the New Testament, John knew the opposition was real so he wrote five books. The first book he wrote was a Gospel to share the Good News so that we would “believe.” The next three letters, or epistles, John wrote to believers so they may “be sure” about the truth they believe. The last book, Revelation, John wrote to believers so they would “be ready.” 

John used the truth about love to show believers that if you have love in Christ, then you have eternal life, but beware of those trying to deceive you. The deceivers were saying, “You don’t know the truth regarding Jesus Christ and you don’t know the truth about sin and love.” The deceivers said, “sin isn’t really sin because spirit is separate from matter.” They truly believed what you do with your body doesn’t matter.

…and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world. 1 John 4:3 (NASB) 

Confess, or homologeo in Greek in this scripture is the same as in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins…” In Greek, homo= same, logo = word, thus same word or to say the same thing. It means that if I say that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, I am saying, “God, I agree with you about everything you say about Jesus Christ.”

When the angel appeared to Mary and Joseph, they were told to name the baby, Jesus, because it means God our Savior. So if you confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, you are saying that Jesus is God and He is the Savior. 

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Matthew 7:21 (NASB) 

So some could say Jesus is Lord, acknowledge Him as God, as Savior, but not be from God because they never do the will of the Father, submit to God, or walk in obedience to Him.

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 (NASB) 

When you are saved, the Holy Spirit enters your heart and guides you into all truth. You have an anointing from God so you know the truth. 

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. John 14:23 (NASB) 

The fullness of the Godhead dwells in you.

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 1 John 4:4-5 (NASB) 

There is a spirit of truth and a spirit of error. If someone is asking you to do something that leads you away from God, you can trust it is not from Him and is a spirit of error. 

Every decision you make either leads you closer or further from Him. 

We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John 4:6 (NASB) 

How do I know if someone is from God? John gives us two tests:
First, I ask if he believes Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.
Second, if someone won’t listen to God’s word, he is not from God.

Five things About Love ( 1 John 4:7-5:2)

1.God is the source of perfect love.

Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 (NASB) 

Perfect love is continuous. 

The Greek language has different words for different kinds of love.

• Eros, the erotic, sensual love that says, “Give me, satisfy me, give me pleasure,”
• Phileo love says, “I love you because you make me happy and I’m happy when I’m loving you, and I admire you.” Even that love won’t last because it’s not unconditional.
• Agape love is unconditional love. It is used only a couple of times in secular writings but is used over and over in the word of God.

2. Sacrifice is the measure of perfect love. 

By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 (NASB) 

Love is measured by its sacrifice, by what it gives. God gave His Son to prove His love for us.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NASB)

3.Perfect love lives here. 

There will never be another Son like Jesus Christ.

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:9-12 (NASB) 

There had been 400 years of silence and then one day the silence was broken by a voice crying in the wilderness, “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” While he was on this earth, he had grown in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Then at the age of 30, He made His public appearance. For 3½ years He walked among people that people might see that Lamb, one without spot or blemish. Then when the 3 ½ years were up and the Passover lamb was kept and examined for 3½ days, God took His Lamb. Jesus looked at His disciples and said, “The time has come.”

4. God’s love is perfected in us. 

No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this, we know that we abide in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit. 1 John 4:12-13 (NASB) 

5. Perfect love gives the confidence & ability to respond. 

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him. We have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God in him. 1 John 4:15-16 (NASB)

By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgement; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishement, andthe one who fears is not perfected in love. We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:17-19 (NASB) 

Love is completed through us. It begins with God, it is displayed through Jesus, and then it is completed through us. Loved people, love people. 

You may be the only Bible anyone ever reads. 

When you love God with perfect love and He loves you with perfect love, then you have total confidence. God’s perfect love for you allows you the confidence to know that when death and judgment come, you need not fear whatsoever because you know that you are loved by God.

There is only one place to find perfect love. The reason you long for it is that in every single human being there is a hole in our hearts that can only be filled with God and God is love. 

So run to the Father through the Son and you will find the love you’ve been looking for and you won’t have to run and look for it anymore. His love is true, perfect, and pure. 

God pursues you, just as George Bush pursued Barbara many, many years ago… 

My darling Bar,

This should be a very easy letter to write — words should come easily and in short, it should be simple for me to tell you how desperately happy I was to open the paper and see the announcement of our engagement, but somehow I can’t possibly say all in a letter I should like to.

I love you, precious, with all my heart and to know that you love me means my life. How often I have thought about the immeasurable joy that will be ours someday. How lucky our children will be to have a mother like you —

As the days go by the time of our departure draws nearer. For a long time, I had anxiously looked forward to the day when we would go aboard and set to sea. It seemed that obtaining that goal would be all I could desire for some time, but, Bar, you have changed all that. I cannot say that I do not want to go — for that would be a lie. We have been working for a long time with a single purpose in mind, to be so equipped that we could meet and defeat our enemy. I do want to go because it is my part, but now leaving presents itself not as an adventure but as a job which I hope will be over before long. Even now, with a good while between us and the sea, I am thinking of getting back. This may sound melodramatic, but if it does it is only my inadequacy to say what I mean. Bar, you have made my life full of everything I could ever dream of — my complete happiness should be a token of my love for you.

Wednesday is definitely the commissioning and I do hope you’ll be there. I’ll call Mum tomorrow about my plan. A lot of fellows put down their parents or wives and they aren’t going so you could pass as a Mrs. — Just say you lost the invite and give your name. They’ll check the list and you’ll be in. How proud I’ll be if you can come.

I’ll tell you all about the latest flying developments later. We have so much to do and so little time to do it. It is frightening at times. The seriousness of this thing is beginning to strike home. I have been made asst. gunnery officer and when Lt. Houle leaves I will be gunnery officer. I’m afraid I know very little about it but I am excited at having such a job. I’ll tell you all about this later too.

The wind of late has been blowing like mad and our flying has been cut to a minimum. My plane, #2 now, is up at Quonset, having a camera installed. It is Bar #2 but purely in spirit since the Atlantic fleet won’t let us have names on our planes.

Goodnite, my beautiful. Every time I say beautiful you about kill me but you’ll have to accept it —

I hope I get Thursday off — there’s still a chance. All my love darling —Poppy, public fiancé as of 12/12/43

(Presidential information from Kimberly Holland’s March 27, 2019 article in Southern Living)