Blessed Are the Rest of Us: How Limits and Longing Make Us Whole

When Micha Boyett’s son was born with Down syndrome and later diagnosed with autism, she was drawn into the ancient teachings of the Beatitudes. There, she found an invitation to honor her limits in a world that values performance, perfection, and strength. Jesus instead calls his followers to embrace meekness, mercy, and the longing for justice. The Beatitudes helped Boyett discover her wholeness in God’s love rather than in her own accomplishments.

In Blessed Are the Rest of Us, Boyett shares her insights with readers--especially those who are burned out, tired of performing, living with grief, feeling exhausted, or powerless. She invites them into an understanding of God and themselves centered on belovedness rather than accomplishment. Here is her message: in God’s dream for the world, blessing has nothing to do with ease; it’s about flourishing, and Jesus promises we find flourishing in our limits and in our longing to see the world made whole. Each chapter centers on the refreshing good news of one beatitude, poetically woven with stories of Boyett’s life.

Beautifully reassuring and liberating, this book calls readers to rest in God’s rich and abundant love.

Micha Boyett (MFA, Syracuse University) is the author of Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer and a contributor to the New York Times bestseller A Rhythm of Prayer, edited by Sarah Bessey. She is cohost of the Lucky Few podcast (#1 Down syndrome podcast for five years running), creator of TheSlow Way podcast and newsletter, and has written for publications such as the Washington Post and Christianity Today. In addition to her work as a writer, she is youth director at her church, Good Shepherd New York. Boyett and her husband live in Northern New Jersey with their three sons.