As Mother’s Day approaches on Sunday, it’s difficult to think of all the ways a mother’s sacrifice and contributions helps any person develop.

Just think of what she has to go through to give life to a child, raise it and make sure it is ready to take on the world in this day and age.

God created the process by which women, not men, give birth. 

But he seems to give most moms enough patience to teach their children how to deal with the world at all stages of their lives.

I was considering what a woman must deal with to make sure she delivers a healthy baby. Safe childbirth is a modern medical miracle but it also is not a surefire thing.

By some reasoning only God could explain, some women can have as many children as they want while some find it difficult to give birth to one.

If they get past childbirth, Mom now is responsible for a life.

Mom becomes the child's caregiver and, as he or she grows, their cook, maid and chauffeur. Sometimes, Mom is a nurse, too, if we get sick.

She's the person who reads us bedtime stories before we're old enough to read them for ourselves. 

Lately, she often served as the teacher's aide — but that's another story altogether.

As her children grow, the best moms become their children’s confidant, their guide through the uncertainties of young adulthood — the one who teaches them right from wrong in a highly sexually charged world. She tries to keep her kids on the straight and narrow as they go through school and, maybe, on to college.

Some famous people have told about their mother's value to them. 

From a website called thoughtcatalog.com, NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan said, "My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind."

Former President Barack Obama said, "My mother was the one constant in my life. When I think about my mom raising me alone when she was 20, and working and paying the bills, and, you know, trying to pursue your own dreams, I think is a feat that is unmatched."

Former President Donald Trump in an interview with "Fox and Friends," said, "She was so good to me. I couldn't do any wrong, which is a big problem. 

“Maybe that's why I ended up the way I ended up. I don't know. I couldn't do any wrong in her eyes."

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates on Twitter in 2019 said, "My mom was one of the most generous people I’ve ever known. If I grew up #WithoutMom, I wouldn’t be the man I am today. Join the fight against preventable maternal deaths so that no child grows up without a mother."

Georgia native, country music star and TV cooking show hostess Trisha Yearwood said, "When you’re sick, nobody takes care of you like your mom."

The void Mom leaves when she departs this life is not something anyone should have to experience. But, when they do, Mom sometimes leaves while her children are far away, in another state or another continent, and having not seen or spoken with her for years.

Yes, in recent decades children have not left the nest as quickly as they formerly did. Maybe that's a good thing in some instances, to have someone present to look after Mom if needed as she ages.

My mother has been gone for a number of years now. Speaking as one who will never see my Mom again: If you haven't seen your mother for awhile because of the pandemic, or talked to her for awhile for any number of personal reasons, put those reasons aside and visit with her before it's no longer possible.

I like this quote from author Rachel Wolchin: “Call your mother. Tell her you love her. 

“Remember, you're the only person who knows what her heart sounds like from the inside.”