This date was given to Jasmine in a dream. If you dont know, one of Jas' spiritual gifts is dreaming spiritual dreams. She had a dream where she was supposed to meet Tom at the Dunkin Donuts near his workplace in Jackson Hts. However, upon arrival, he was nowhere to be found. Checking her cell phone, Jasmine found that Tom had texted her with a new location to meet at - 6th Ave and 27th St. She walked through many buildings until she reached her destination. When she looked up at the street signs, she saw she was standing at 7th Ave and 26th Street.

You need to understand Jasmine often cannot interpret her own dreams. She usually emails her friend, Manni, to ask her thoughts on what the meaning might be, because, like Daniel and Joseph, Manni has the gift of dream interpretation. However, Jasmine already sort of felt that those street numbers were actually dates. Dates for what, though, she couldn't figure out. So, in typical fashion, Jasmine emailed Manni about this dream. Upon reading the dream, Manni interpreted the street numbers to be dates as well! Manni also suggested that one of those dates would be Jas and Tom's wedding date!

Jasmine was shocked! You see, this dream was given to her on March 27, 2008. She and Tom had only been dating for 3 wks. They weren't even engaged yet. o_O! Jas couldn't believe that those could be possible wedding dates, esp since June was only THREE months away! Impossible! So, she put it out of her head.

Tom proposed a week and a half later on their one month anniversary, April 8, 2008. As she and Tom began planning for the wedding, the question of a suitable date nagged at them. The first thing people ask after you announce your engagement is "When's the wedding date?" as if you should already know! =P So, Tom and Jas kept wondering and playing around with different dates, until finally Jasmine suggested Valentine's Day 2009.

There were several reasons why this was a good date.
1. It would be a sweet winter wedding.
2. It was a Saturday.
3. It was the week before public school mid-Winter recess and Jas would be off from work, enabling her to go on honeymoon without having to take vacation days.
4. It would give Tom and Jas a reason to celebrate on this very commercialized holiday! =P

They began to share that date with others and started the planning. But, by the end of the summer, they hit a barrier. The long and short of it was - they had to please the Chinese parents. So, in an effort to compromise, they decided to change the date and put off the wedding for a few more months, (much to their dismay). =/

As Jasmine looked at the calendar, she could see only 2 viable options:
1. Easter break - again, having off work because of the school holiday.
2. Summer

Having the wedding during Easter weekend felt strange and inappropriate, so Jas began to look at summer dates. She flipped the calendar first to July. Already, Tom and Jas had been talking of attending the Hillsong Conference in Australia as part of their honeymoon. The conference would be held from July 7-11. So, obviously, they would need to marry the weekend before at the latest. One look at the calendar and Jasmine groaned. The Saturday before the conference was Fourth of July! Not only would people be celebrating with family, but many churches have their own retreats and conferences. It would not be an ideal date. She flipped the calendar back to June and her eye fell on the last Saturday. It was June 27. She gasped. Literally. In a flash her dream came back to her and she couldn't wait to tell Tom. The ideal date for the wedding had already been set by God. June 27th, 2009. ^_^ Then she understood the reason why Tom was the one standing at that location in her dream. It was because the change in dates came from compromising with his parents.

Now, the two of them pray everyday for this wedding date, wondering what God has in store. Amazed that He Himself would hand-pick their special day. It also holds great significance for Jasmine as she had an amazing spiritual experience in Malaysia on June 27, 2001. (You'll have to ask her about that yourself, but it involves the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.)

[UPDATE: Tom and Jas had a baby girl they named JUBILEE. she is a ChinaRican blessing!]