It would appear to me the end times are very much like a women’s pregnancy.  Rarely does a women know the exact moment of conception, as we don’t know the exact start of the end times(except maybe from the moment Christ ascended into heaven).  The women begins to feel different, a little nausea, and some other tell-tell signs letting you know something is up.  When you realize what is going on you go to a specialist(Prophesy teacher) who may not be able to tell you the exact date, but can calculate and get pretty close. (he uses history, study and prior experiences to help you)  As the months progress, it becomes more and more evident until you get to the “any day now stage”.  Then the birthing pains start, usually with false labor a couple of weeks in advance to let you know you are close(tsunami). then the real labor starts(where we are now) and the contractions get closer and closer until the fulfillment of the pregnancy with the birth of a new creature. One thing though, labor can be short or long; difficult or “relatively easy”(easy for a man to say).  Some will suffer greatly, all will seek relief.   As with pregnancy, there is a window of opportunity, I believe we are in that window. We must prepare ourselves for the end of the labor which will become increasingly more and more intense as we approach the return of Christ.