Along this road of blogging I’ve given relationship advice many times, but finding the right kind of boy for you can be a tricky trial and error for any girl to navigate. A few weeks ago my husband reminded me of another trait you’ll want to look for when finding your “right” match.

As I posted recently, we went to Lava Hot Springs on a family vacation. At my brother’s house in Grace, Idaho, we decided to do a local pastime where you float through a tunnel in a nearby mountain called “Last Chance.” My brother had never floated this canal before so none of us knew what we were really in for, but it sounded fun.

We climbed over a fence to get beyond a small building that sits over the diverted river. Inside this building they strain the water to draw out the moss to keep the water as clean as possible for the irrigation used for the valley farms of Grace. The water is pushed out on the other end at a pretty high rate of speed. I’m looking at the tumultuous water wondering if this is such a good idea, but my brother had already climbed down into the water. He could easily stand in the rolling water, the level of the water only being at about to his thighs, so I let all the kids climb in too. My husband and I are the last to go.

The float through the tunnel was amazing. It only grew deep enough that I had to swim a few short times. And the flashlights we held, helped us see the hand-chiseled marks in the ceiling of the lava rock. Coming out the other end is when things started to get scary.

The water crosses high over a canyon in an open, semicircle pipe they call a flume. Over the top of this pipe are metal bars that jut across above your head every ten feet or so, bracing this semi-circled flume all the way over the canyon. On the other side of this flume the water is loud, like it’s churning, but inside the canal it’s hard to see why, all you can hear is the noise.

By the time I reach the end of the mountain tunnel my brother has already pulled our two smallest kids out of the water. They are sitting on those metal bars overhead. With that loud churning at the end of the flume, everyone is trying to get out of the water and onto those metal brackets overhead. My husband catches up to help get the other kids out. With the only two grown men in the water helping the teenage kids, there’s no one left to help me.

I spring out of the water, but the fast moving water makes me miscalculate my jump and I smack my right wrist on the metal bracket I tried to grab. I slip farther down the flume and try again for another bracket, but my hurt wrist won’t carry any weight. I make a third attempt at the next bracket I get to, using only my left hand. I managed to also hook my leg around the metal bracket but realize there is no way I can pull myself up without my other hand, or help from someone else. I look back to see that everyone else had managed to get out, but they were so far from me, no help would be coming. Exhausted, I drop back into the flume, deciding I had no other choice than to ride this out until I found a place easier for me climb out. The churning water on the other side of the flume is now really loud in my ears. Is it a waterfall?

I quickly shift my weight, making sure to keep my feet forward, figuring it would be better to drop on my feet than my head. The drop ends up not being very big at all, maybe a foot, and the water opens up to this wide canal that slows down immensely. The flume at the end was acting like a megaphone, magnifying the sound of the churning water.

About ten feet down this large and now slow moving canal is a ladder anchored in the cement on the left. I barely reach its rungs when out pops my husband from the flume.

“You climbed back in?” The last time I saw him he was safe on a metal bracket helping kids out.

“Well, yeah. I had to go after you.” I swam over to where I stood.

“But the roaring water—it could have been something really bad.”

He gave a push to help me up the ladder. “So what? I’ll always risk it all for you.”

Thankfully, most times in our marriage it’s not about life and death, but his willingness to care more about me than himself is an amazing gift. It gives me confidence to be bold and try scary things, because he always has my back. It is a trait that every girl would be wise to look for in their “right” match for them.