Samaritana

I have been happily married for 15 years, and in my opinion, you could have opposite sex friends, but you should always be with someone else in the room preferably your spouse. Also, never share to much personal information with the other person, because that is something you should cherish for within the marriage. Never open doors that might lead to something dangerous. In my case, after I got married I decided to avoid that problem all together, and I only have friends of my own sex. Same for my hubby.

Pray for her and love her. Do not avoid her, because she needs to see God's love in us. If the subject comes up, be truthful in how you feel, but never applaud her sin.

I will try to make this long story short. First of all, I am a believer and want to honor and respect God's law. Now to my question: To what degree should I honor my birth mother if she hasn't been present in my life for the last 15 years and haven't even spoken to me? I married at the age of 17 my loving and caring christian husband and that was one of the main reasons, or the main reason why my mother decided to forget I was ever her child. I wrote to her letters, invited her to important events, but nothing. A couple of months ago she lost her job at 71 years of age. I knew that she would need help (money) to get by, so I prayed and talked with my husband and we decided to buy her groceries monthly, instead of giving her money, because of her gambling and cigarette addiction. Two weeks ago she was diagnosed with cancer and suddenly she starts calling me. At first I went to the hospital almost every day to stay with her, thinking that was my duty to comply with God's law. I keep taking days off from work at the risk of losing my job. And also, I knew I was behind my home duties and abandoning my wifely duties due to the lack of time I had left in the day. It was called to my attention by an outside party that I could not neglect my life for a mother who was clearly interested in what she could get out of me. I am not naive, I know my mother, and I know she does not care for me. God has healed my heart years ago and I no longer feel pain for what she did to me, I only feel pity. I forgave her, but now that we are here, with these circumstances I see that slowly everything I worked so hard to achieve, and with the blessings of God acquired (husband, happiness, job) I am putting it aside to be with someone that will hurt me as soon as she can. Should I do it? Should I risk my job? Should I risk my marriage? Should I risk my happiness? To what extent? Any words or views will be appreciated. Pray for me.