God leads and we follow...to China!: Day 4

So, something interesting happened last night … we tried to give our driver a 100 RMB (approx $15) tip for driving us all around Beijing. I say tried because he looked at the money, had is buddy look at it, and then handed it back to me with some comment in Chinese. Maybe he thought the gift was too much maybe he was appalled that it was too low, or maybe the tour company has strict rules over receiving tips. Either way, we just accepted it and moved on with life.

Then this morning, on our way to the airport, our driver started chatting it up with our guide. About 10 minutes into our drive, our guide then started freaking out and told us we have fake money. She explained that our money didn't feel right and even though all of the watermarks were there and we had taken money out of the ATM in the hotel lobby, it didn't really matter. To prove their point to us, we had to stop right away at a local shop (e.g. sidewalk fruit vendor) to ask his expert opinion. This guy had gloves on and therefore wasn't able to do the "rub the paper money between your fingers test". Thankfully, the vendor eased our guide and driver's fears by telling them that new money probably just felt different.

Anyways ... new Beijing money works just fine at McD's and the grocery store (they only do the watermark test). And since the guide and driver were skeptical of our freshly minted money and refused to receive it, we got to save some on tips in the process!

Here are some other travel mercies and blessings for today:

Guide, driver, and our family were ready to leave the hotel at 7:30AM sharp.
Today was a light traffic day in Beijing and we made it to the airport in 45 minutes … this gave us plenty of time to check in and get through security ... even with our detour.
God’s hand was present with our luggage. We rearranged some gear in hopes we could get all of our bags under the 20 kg (e.g. 44 lb.) domestic Chinese airline allowance. Amazingly, most of it was! I think we shocked our guide and the ticket agent. They both seemed sure we would have to pay overage fees.
We were able to get all 6 seats on the plane next to each other. This was a big concern for us since we weren’t able to confirm our seats ahead of time. Row 64 worked just fine for the Marquette's!
The HUGE plane we took to Chengdu had individual entertainment systems in every seat. They had a large assortment of movies in English. This really helped keep the kids calm as we sat on the tarmac for almost an hour before taking off for our 2.5 hour plane ride.
Guide and driver in Chengdu were waiting for us when we arrived.
McD’s for dinner was only 3 blocks from our hotel.

Look ahead to tomorrow ... Gotcha Day!

We will meet our guide around 8:15 am to drive to the orphanage and meet Maelee. We will be going with another adoptive family. This is a first for us. We have never been in province with another family. We have always looked forward to seeing families in Guangzhou. Please pray for Maelee. We have heard that she is a very sad girl and does not do well with new people or transitions. We are preparing for a difficult transition. Pray for her grieving, sadness, trust, and felt safety. Pray for our kids that they would be flexible, understanding, and give her the space she needs. Pray for Matt and Deanna as we meet her needs, give love, build trust, and find a new normal. Tomorrow is the big day!!! We have a nervous excitement. It is certainly surreal typing this post while sitting next to her empty crib. Tomorrow, she will be here and sleeping besides us. One less! Praise God!