It was 1996. My husband, three young teens, and I, stood on the side of the dark road, in the middle of nowhere, watching the flames lick first the engine, then the interior of our car. The kids were scared - and who could blame them? My mind was already reeling with the realities - this was our only car and there was no comprehensive insurance on it; money was tight, so financially, this was devastating. It was also pitch black, 9:30 at night, on a road seldom traveled at that time, and we had no cell phone to call anyone.

Fortunately, someone drove by, saw what was happening and pulled over. The man in the car valiantly, but in vain, tried to put the fire out with his soda. His wife got on her cell phone and called 911, but by the time the fire department arrived, the car was fully engulfed in flames. They shooed us all down the road about a quarter mile, in case the car exploded.

My daughters were crying and my son stood in silence - this wasn't good. I knew I had to pull something out of my Mom bag of tricks before my children got bogged down in the negatives of the situation.

I called out, "ok kids....let's have some silver linings here! Every bad situation has a silver lining - let's find ours here!"

My son looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

"Come on, Josh! Find a silver lining in this!" I urged.

Thinking for a moment, he finally looked up at me and said, "Well Mom, you don't need to worry about the tune-up that the car needed anymore."

"You're exactly right, Josh!" I smiled at him. "Girls, your turn! What silver lining can you think of?"

Jenny grinned, warming to the task. "We don't need to get new tires anymore!"

Kristi piped up, not to be outdone, "I always hated that car anyway, it was too crowded for us in the backseat, so now we can get a bigger car!"

I beamed at them and pulled them all close for a hug. They were absolutely correct on all counts - not realizing at that age, that money was a real issue. But their assessment of the situation made my heart soar! They proceeded to throw out everything they could think of and had me laughing before it was all over with.

The nice people who stopped to help us let me use their cell phone to call my father in law who lived a few miles down the road. He came and got us all, and loaned us the only vehicle he could - a big, very old moving van, and that's what we used to get to work and back for two weeks, until the next paychecks came in and we could buy another - and yes, bigger - car.

When my home was recently burglarized, I was very upset and depressed for days. My children, all adults now, showed up at my home or called, and immediately started throwing silver linings at me.

"Well Mom, you've always hated the Windows ME that came on that computer - no more fighting with it!"

"Mom, just think, you can upgrade your computer now!"

"Mom! You can get a new vacuum cleaner now....that one never did pick up as well as you liked!"

I smiled. They had remembered that event six years ago, and helped me out emotionally when I really needed it. The bigger good in the situation was the realization that I had passed along to my children a value I hadn't expected, and one I hope they'll pass along to their children.