Marrying a Vision

Today at lunch I caught a bit of the Corretta Scott King funeral. One of the speakers was relaying some of the things she said over the years, and a comment particularly caught my attention. When asked how she dealt with all the pressures of her own life - her family, her husband and his travels - part of her response was that she knew when she married him that she was marrying not just a man, but a vision. Even though we obviously aren't all married to Martin Luther King type heroes, I think there's some wisdom that all of us should remember there. To some degree, we have all married a vision. It may be that our spouses are artists, or writers, or doctors, or just called to career or hobby in a way that is more than just work to them. There is something that inspires them and makes them want to be better or do more - their own vision. It's not just about what they want, but about what drives them, makes them feel alive. We married that feeling too, and it would be a real loss to miss out on that or see it just as an imposition on our own lives. Lord knows it isn't always easy to live with vision, but that doesn't mean we can ignore it or try to change it. I know I have married a man with a vision for his future in medicine. I don't always understand it or see where it's going quite (and maybe neither does he, but that's OK too), but if I love him I have to live with that vision too. And I know he sees that my work too is not just a job, but that there's something else it gives me. We don't always like being apart, but he supports that I have to be away at times, because it's what I do, part of my vision. Now, as that changes for me and I try to figure out how to fit my old vision with the new motherhood vision, I know he'll support me. Because he married my vision too. What an amazing thing that is.