Cruising west on I-40 across Tennessee, I heard and felt the frightening sputter of my motorcycle's engine. Losing power fast, I had to get off the road quickly. A convenient exit near Memphis saved me from being stranded on the highway as night fell. But this was a serious problem. Hundreds of miles from my destination in Texas, I was nearly as far from home in Ohio.

A college student with only a few dollars in my pocket, I had a plane to catch in 36 hours. If I missed it, my plans for the summer would be blown and the money I carefully saved and spent on airfare wasted.

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending.

I found a hotel room for the night and first thing in the morning convinced a repair shop to make my bike top priority. By noon I was back on the road and rolled into Houston 12 hours later. I caught the flight and had a tremendous summer volunteering at a summer camp in Europe.

One tool vital to escape from my personal crisis was a credit card. Without that piece of plastic, I could not have gotten a hotel room, and I certainly could not have paid the $300 bill for repairing my motorcycle.

Keep in mind that credit can be a very good thing, as we consider a current crisis with effects far beyond one college student.

• In August American Home Mortgage Investment Corporation filed for bankruptcy, with quarterly losses of over $60 million.

• Wall Street regulators closed two Bear Sterns hedge funds that were heavily invested in sub-prime mortgages, and holdings that had been valued at $20 billion evaporated.

• The largest mortgage lender in the United States saw its stock drop 13 percent in one day, triggered by the news that loan delinquencies and foreclosures had risen dramatically.

This financial crisis happened because credit can also be a very bad thing—when misused. But this credit crunch concerns common people, not just financial analysts and big-time brokers.

On my short street, four houses sit empty. Many others in the neighborhood have likewise been left behind by families that could not afford their monthly payments. Most of them borrowed money through adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs), expecting to sell the house for a profit before their payment adjusted to a higher rate. They borrowed more than they could afford, gambling that the value of their house would rise, but they lost the bet and their credit.

Unfortunately, they are not the only ones who lost. Now most homeowners are watching their investments decrease in value. Lending companies have lost fortunes, and young people wanting to buy a first home are having trouble getting loans. Misuse of credit can hurt a person and a people for a very long time.

So where does this leave you and me? If you haven't already, you will soon start receiving credit card offers in the mail (in America). My story of being stranded on the highway demonstrates how useful one of those cards can be—but it's a good thing I hadn't maxed it out buying music and new clothes.

As you consider when to borrow and for what purposes, consider the wisdom of the Bible proverb, ". . . the borrower is servant to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7). Credit is a powerful tool that a young person needs to learn to use properly—to gain its benefits and avoid its dangers.

For some specific, practical guidance, request or download your free copy of the booklet Managing Your Finances. VT