I am very thankful, not only that God is sovereign, but that I know He is sovereign. Our triune God governs and upholds all things. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is beyond His control. King Jesus reigns!

Over the past several months and years, God’s sovereignty is a truth I have clung to and come to love dearly. Even when things don’t make sense from my perspective, and I don’t have answers, knowing that God knows, that He is the One who has ordained this way for me, is enough. It doesn’t take away the pain, but it gives purpose to the pain.

God gave my husband, Derek, and me a love for children and a desire to help children in need. We believed He was calling us to become foster parents. As God began to open doors in 2015, we saw that as His confirmation of that call.

After completing an intense week-long training program and home-study, our home was officially opened in December 2015. Only a few hours after learning that we had been approved, we received a call asking us to care for two girls, ages 3 and 4. The very next day our home grew by four feet.

I wish I could show you their pictures (what parent doesn’t want to show off their kids?) and tell you about them, but I am bound by confidentiality agreements. I can tell you that they were beautiful girls who brought joy and laughter to our home. Their smiles and twinkling eyes lit up every room, the pattering of their feet across our floors brought joy, and we could not resist joining them as they cheerfully sang the psalms. Their brilliant minds soaked up everything we taught them—Bible stories, a children’s catechism, psalters, letter sounds, hygiene. They quickly made friends with my nieces and nephews, as well as the children at church. Sure, there were times they needed to be disciplined, and there were some rough times, but we loved them.

In January we were assigned our social worker. From her first (and only) visit, things did not go well. While admitting that the girls looked happy and well cared for, she seemed to have a fascination with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny; she was concerned that we did not believe these characters were real. A couple months of phone calls and emails later, we were given the ultimatum: tell our foster daughters that these fictitious characters were real or have the girls removed from our home and have our foster home shut down. In other words, lie or lose.

What would you do? Is it ever permissable to lie? What if telling the truth prevents you from feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming strangers, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick as Christ commands His followers to do (Matt. 25:31–46)? What if telling the truth will cause others, and yourself, pain?

Those are some of the questions I had to ask myself as we faced Hamilton Children’s Aid Society’s ultimatum. We knew our decision would impact the lives of two young girls. God had called us to be foster parents, but He is also the Truth who hates all lying. How could I resolve these seemingly contrary things?

I didn’t have to. God’s Word is clear. We had to obey Him and leave the outcome to Him, even when that meant losing contact with two children who had become very dear to us. Even when we knew it would hurt them, as their young lives were again disrupted, and that it would hurt us. And it did hurt.

The girls were removed from our home in March 2016 with less than 24 hours’ notice, and our home was shut to fostering. For four months we had cared for these girls (it’s so tempting to use their names!), and suddenly they were being ripped away.

After receiving the notice that the girls would be taken, we quickly informed our family—who had temporarily become their family—and planned a small goodbye party so they could see their friends and Opa and Oma one last time. We scrambled to gather their belongings while at the same time trying to keep a calm and organized environment for the girls. One more bedtime song. One more bedtime prayer. One more good-night kiss. One more. One more. We knew that each action was a last one to be cherished.

The next morning the girls’ social worker came to take the girls and bring them to their new home. The girls had questions we could not answer; they also had questions we did not want to answer. One last goodbye, and they were gone.

The hardest days were the ones after they left. Reality sunk in. Barring a miracle, we would never see them again. I cleaned their bedroom and rearranged the bathroom closet to hide the bare spot where their hair accessories and lotions had been. At every turn something of theirs popped up: a shirt in the laundry, a toy stuck in the back of the couch, a coloring picture in the drawer….It’s hard to lose someone you love.

There were many times I questioned God’s way. Why did He open the doors to fostering and then, after just a few months, slam them shut? Would the biblical truths we taught the girls bring forth fruit? Why this way? Why us?

Though I still have unanswered questions, I cannot doubt God’s sovereign wisdom and providence.

In April 2017, the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedom (JCCF) took up our case. On Mar. 6 of this year, Judge Goodman ruled that our constitutional freedom of speech, conscience, and religion had been violated.

It has been a long journey, and we are thankful to have been vindicated. But, nice as that is, it is our desire that our court case will make fostering and adopting easier for Christians across Canada, and even in the United States.

There has been a lot of media coverage—which Derek has kindly handled since I don’t enjoy that sort of thing—and he has been given marvelous opportunities to speak of King Jesus, the God of truth whom we serve, and the coming judgment day when we will all give an account for our actions.

This world needs Christian foster and adoptive families. Not every Christian family is called to this work, but I believe every Christian should seriously consider whether it is something God is calling them to do. We have been adopted by God, and He calls His children to love and care for orphans (Jas. 1:27). Even if you are not being called to open your home, certainly your church ought to be a place of welcome, refuge, and love for needy children and those who care for them on a daily basis.

Looking back, I am very thankful for the outpouring of love, support, and especially prayer from fellow believers across North America and throughout the world. There were professing Christians who opposed us, those who felt we should have compromised for the sake of the children, and others who believed we were wrong to take the Hamilton Children’s Aid to court. But, overall, we have felt the care of the worldwide church, crossing many denominational boundaries.

Looking forward, I still have questions. But God doesn’t owe me answers. He is my sovereign Lord. As we now hope to adopt through the public agency here in Edmonton, Alb., we wait to see what God will do. Will He bring a child or children into our family? Where are they now? Who are they? How old are they? What will their needs be? How good it is to know that our Father is in control.

We ask for your prayers as we move forward. We are desirous to care for needy children, to teach them of the one who sets the solitary in families (Ps. 68:6) and to show them the love of Christ. We thank you for traveling this journey with us in prayer. May God bless you.

Frances Baars is married to Derek. They are members of The Shelter RPC in Edmonton, Alb. Frances is an occasional blogger (biblical­instructionforbarrenwomen.wordpress.com).