jkorstad

I was born and raised in northern California and grew up in a wonderful, loving, and Godly home. Both of my parents and several of my aunts were teachers, so I always had an appreciation for educators in my heart. My mother and father were servants-leaders in everything that they were involved in—neighborhood functions, church, local and state educational organizations, and the local and state rock and mineral society. We always took our vacations to go rock-collecting and camping. Some of my fondest memories are being in the Mojave Desert and finding some of God's beautiful rare gems. One of my other fond childhood memories is going through the YMCA Indian Guides and baseball with my brother and dad. When it came time to apply to colleges, I wanted to stay in California and be close to the beach so that I could continue my love for surfing, but I also wanted to expand my experiences and move further from home. Thus, I attended California Lutheran University in Southern California. It was there that I found my love for the sciences. Although I had a rough academic beginning, I finally settled down in my junior year and became a double major in geology and biology. This was perhaps a dangerous combination for somebody who didn't have a strong science background, but I felt the Lord giving me supernatural strength and ability to study and learn the material. I finally finished my double major in my fifth year. More importantly than the sciences, I dedicated my life to Christ at CLU. Sally, my wife-to-be, was an integral part in me realizing that Jesus was not the center of my life. When I first met Sally, I saw not only an outer radiance of beauty, but I distinctly saw an inner radiance that I realized was from the Lord. Sally and I became engaged in our last year at CLU. We graduated in June 1972, were married on July 29th, and then moved to Northern California where I started the Masters program in Environmental Science at California State University at Hayward. During the next two years I grew in my understanding of biology. I decided to start my specialty in Limnology, the study of aquatic ecosystems. During this time, we felt the Lord expanding our "territory" and so I applied to Ph.D. programs at various universities in Canada and around the U.S. Although I was accepted at the University of California at Davis and all of our family members lived in California at that time, we felt led to accept the offer by the University of Michigan. I delayed my acceptance for the fall of 1974 after Sally's younger sister, Debbie, was critically injured in a tragic accident. We were also expecting our first child in October. We finally flew to Michigan on January 2, 1975 with our three-month-old daughter and our few belongings. This was the start of a wonderful chapter in our lives. The second Sunday that we were in Ann Arbor, we bundled up Shauna inside my jacket and walked through the snow from graduate housing to the closest LCMS church, which was about a mile-and-a-half from campus. One of the first couples that we met was the Pastor and his wife, Art and Connie Spomer. The Lord must have given them extraordinary compassion because they soon invited us to dinner and encouraged us to feel welcome in the Divine Shepherd fellowship. During the next five and a half years, we grew tremendously in our spiritual walk because of Christ-centered people like Pastor, Connie, and others in the church. I continued my academic education by taking as many graduate courses in biology at the University of Michigan as I could. I also continued my research emphasis and worked as a teaching assistant. I finally finished my dissertation in July of 1980, just in time to accept an offer to teach at Oral Roberts University. Sally and I still laugh because she told me when I was applying for jobs that she wanted to go, "anywhere but Tulsa." Well, as we all learn, God has better plans. We moved to Tulsa in August 1980 with Shauna (six years old), Sarah (three years old), and Joya (two months old). One of the first churches we attended was Immanuel Lutheran "on the hill." Although we greatly missed our fellowship in Michigan, we appreciated meeting other wonderful Christian friends. Soon afterward, when the pastor informed the congregation that he was accepting a Call to another church, we prayed and submitted Pastor Spomer's name to the Call list. God divinely directed the process and he, Connie, Amy, and Rachel moved here in February of 1982. Sally and I have now been in Tulsa for over 29 years. We have seen God's directing our steps in wonderful and often unimaginable ways. We spent two sabbatical years in Trondheim, Norway, where our now four daughters (Janna was born in July 1983) attended Norwegian schools. The friendships that we made during that time are still strong today. In fact, five of our friend’s children attended school here in Oklahoma—three attending Broken Arrow High School and two attending ORU and playing soccer. In everything that I do, I want to do it excellently as unto the Lord (Col 3:23). I also humbly submit to the same prayer that Jabez prayed, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain" (1 Chron 4:9-10 NIV). I want God to use me to His glory in all that He has called me to do. That includes being a Professor of Biology and Director of the Honors Program at ORU. I enjoy encouraging others to love and good works (Heb 10:24). My prayer is that God will continue to use me to be His servant as a loving husband, father, church member, professor, and community member. To God be all glory and honor.