Unfortunately, my husband and I have been frontline observers to the implosion of several marriages over the past few years. It is devastating to watch a couple casually toss aside what is intended to be a life-long commitment because they no longer feel they are ‘in love’, ‘compatible”, or ‘have different goals in life’.

I’ve concluded that a fundamental change is required in the standards for obtaining a marriage license. It’s ironic that an individual has to spend four years in college to earn a degree that will build a career for the future, but there is no training or degree required for marriage.

I want to become a Basic Training Marriage Instructor (with my husband) at The National Marriage Training Institute. Establishing a training institute will save our country billions of dollars by strengthening marriages. The institute would be privately funded and run much like a college campus with satellite locations.  Each couple would pay a fee for attendance that would include the cost of a marriage license in their state.

Basic Marriage Training will be required before a couple can obtain a marriage license. Basic Training lasts for nine weeks with no less than three hours of training each week. Nine weeks of hard-core relational, physical, and mental drills will help a couple:

• Build Character
• Understand Honor
• Explore The Meaning of Marital Fidelity
• Learn Discipline
• Prepare For Combat
• Build Emotional and Physical Stability
• Discover Personal Potential As A Mate

A couple will be challenged to the peak of their ability and graduate as true marriage soldiers. They will be able to live and think like marriage warriors. After graduation, three-day training weekends will be required once a year to maintain a level of peak marriage warrior performance. Additional incentives for graduating from The National Marriage Training Institute, and attending annual weekend training, will be an increase in the couple’s standard tax deduction and a card will be issued reducing taxes on the purchase of groceries, clothing, and gas.

Couples choosing to live together, rather than attend Basic Marriage Training, will not receive domestic partner status from the IRS or joint health benefits from an employer, unless they have graduated from The Marriage Training Institute. In addition, standard tax deductions will be dramatically reduced.

If a couple decides their marriage must end, The Marriage Intensives Combat Course (12 weeks) will be required before a judge can sign a divorce decree.

I think I’m onto something.