One of the unbelievable stories of the NFL this season has been the undefeated Tennessee Titans. They have started the season 10 & 0; the best season start in the franchise’s history.

In watching them play and listening to sports commentators pick the team part, they point most of the success to the teams defense or D-LINE. Players like Jevon Kearse, Albert Haynesworth and Jason Jones are just a few of the names that make up this amazing and often times, unstoppable wall that are part of the reason the Titans are doing so well.

One of the stories that have surfaced is about a link chain that the players keep with them on the sidelines during the game. Each link of the chain has a number that represents a player in the D-LINE. They keep it with them on the sidelines as a reminded that it takes every link in that chain to be successful and to accomplish their goal of stopping their opponents. In you marriage, you need a D-LINE.

Now your marriage is made of a team that is you and your spouse. With just the two of you, it’s easy for one to unlink and break out on their own for their own purpose. Now, your D-LINE gets stronger as you add to it. Marriage’s can have a better survival rate when they put God at the center of their relationship. That adds a third link to the D-LINE.

If you search our resources, we talk about the importance of the 12^th Man, (feel free to go read that before continuing this blog). Your 12^th Man is other couples that have been married longer then you and your spouse. They have life experiences that help them to be an encourager to you as you face struggles in your marriage. They also are there to cheer you on in your victories; much like the crowd would during a football game.

By adding 2 links for every couple that you surround yourself with, for the purpose of accountability, they strengthen your chain; Your D-LINE.

When life happens to you, you have God and friends or families surrounding you that can help defeat the enemies that come at you and your marriage. The added links in your chain allows a complete an unbreakable circle. They are on the sidelines with you as a reminded that it takes every link in YOUR chain to be successful and to accomplish YOUR goal of stopping opponents that try to break you up and wear you down.

Remember, it’s not about being undefeated. It’s about making your marriage resilient and strong enough to survive.

The Marriage Playbook

~where marriage is going~

Every year the goal for any football team is to win the National title. They put a plan together based on the strengths of the team to win enough games to do so. In most cases too, getting to the National title game also has those teams winning their conference.

The great thing about the college football bowl system, BCS not included in this discussion, is that for teams that do well during the season, they can get a bid for a bowl game. So there may be no trophy or title behind it, but there’s a payoff for the schools financially; the purses range anywhere from $300,000 to 18 million* dollars. A winning season in the end greatly benefits these schools for their hard work and sacrifice.

The same works in your marriage. When you work hard as a team and start having winning seasons, making sacrifices for the good of your marriage, there is always a payoff. There maybe financial gain sometimes, if you have been working to cut out spending to say payoff debt or save. However, the biggest payout is a tradition, a legacy of winning.

When you string enough winning seasons together, two things happen. One, you start to expect more out of your marriage. In the same vain a team, like say Penn State or Alabama, they have legacies in their history that shows a winning and team-like spirit. New teams every year want to live up to the accomplishments of the teams behind them. Your marriage can build that kind of legacy. You can begin that kind of tradition for your marriage your kid’s marriage. The second thing this does is it draws your team together. As you win, you see what life is like when you work as a team. You start to see whatcha did right in those 4^th-and-inches-with-3-seconds-left-on-the-clock-moments and you build on that. You leave the frustration of any past season slumps behind and believe in your heart and mind that your talents can help you and your team (spouse) play the best game of your life. It’s important to learn from those losses too.

In the end, your target is to win championships together, but if a bowl game is the payoff this season, well then that’s something great to build on.

* NCAA football bowl games, 2007–08; Author: Wikipedia contributors; Publisher: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.