I got a bad reference from my former employer

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I have mainly been a stay at home mom for 8 years. The last 2 years I took a part time assistant position at my church's preschool, where my children used to attend. Last year, I came down with chronic bronchitis which lasted from October thru March. During that time I did miss several days of work. For the first 3 months, I had fever everyday and felt awful, but still came to work most days. I thought about quitting but knew that I committed to working out the school year. My boss never ONCE discussed with me that she had a problem with my being sick. I was the one who always updated her about doctor visits, tests, and etc. She always would say, "I hope you get better soon!", in a really sweet(evil) voice. At the end of the year, she offered me another position for this year that required working 4 days a week rather than the 2 days I was working. I declined saying that 4 days was too much for me and that I was hoping to be a substitute teacher for the county in which my kids attend school. I have since found out that she is bashing me in my references saying my kids were sick alot so I missed a lot of work, and when I was there I generally did not FEEL well, and therefore was totally undependable. My kids were never sick, it was always me. She never mentioned that I had an extended illness but was fine now. She did say that I was always punctual, performed my job well, and was liked by everyone, but I was still totally undependable, which contradicts the other three good things she said. There is no record of her ever speaking to me that she had a problem with my work. I believe she just did not like me and thus prevented me from getting this job with the county. I have a degree in social work and have worked with many consulting firms in the past and have excellent references from them. So, I take a PT position at my CHURCH and get this? Any suggestions? I want to confront her but be professional about it. It sounds like slander or libel to me. What do you all think?