It is common knowledge that this "common housewife" has been referred to of late as "mentally ill". I would like to remind you, dear reader, that the first time I was referred to as such was by my mother and my second daughter back when I had the audacity to take a 15 mo. old baby named Gabriel in Foster Care at the fragile (as we all know) age of 53. Oh my goodness, the outcry was deafening when POH and Mr. Hope actually considered ADOPTING said child should he become freed for adoption. That choice was never offered which is probably just as well since the way things have gone recently have changed everything. That question is moot because we never adopted another child (in which case I NEVER would have left) but my point stands. I WAS called "mentally ill" by two family members for doing something that everyone else in my life, in real life and on the blogstream, congratulated me for. Not that they necessarily didn't think I was "a little crazy" for doing it at such a late age, but their definition of "a little crazy" was a LOT different from what my daughter means when she calls me "mentally ill".

The way I have looked at being a Foster Parent is......it's like when you are a doctor and you see a car accident on the side of the road. You stop to help KNOWING you could get yourself in a heap of trouble and even get yourself sued for doing a GOOD thing, but you do it anyway because it's what you know how to do. When the county would call with a child, it was hard to turn them away because it is what I know how to do. I'm not perfect at it.....but I'm pretty good. Even in my oldified age. To be honest, if I could find a really good Nanny job that pays well right now, I'd be hard pressed not to take it. The only hard part is that it would get me thinking about my grandchildren even more than I already do which is a LOT.

Anyway, I've read this verse a number of times in the past few years and figured that I am in good company............

"But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
Mark 3:20-22"

I guess if Jesus can be called "out of His mind" (and "His own people" refers to His FAMILY there)...then it's okay if I am too. My situation at the moment is just a LEETLE bit different then the scenario I just presented or the one that Jesus was in but to be honest, it's really hard for me to take my mother or daughter's opinions seriously NOW when they were calling me "ill" for doing a GOOD work , like taking in a small, needy child back then. My mother, in particular, is showing her hypocrisy by telling me a month ago that "hard work never hurt anyone" when I told her about working 10-12 hr days on my feet. I think she was glad to hear that I might be suffering, because of my recent choices even though she was the first one to tell me, after I told her about Gabriel, that it was "too much work...especially at your age". Oh brother. Make up your mind. You're just mad that I'm not more easily controlled in my old age. Even Tom wanted Gabriel back then and actually stood up for me when I was called "ill". As I recall he was called "weak" by the same daughter who has now sided with the man who tried to starve two people. Whatever.

If I am to be judged as mentally ill, as Jesus was judged to be out of His mind, I'll take the judgment. LIke they say, you're judged by the company you keep. I like the company I'm in.