Signs of the Times

It's a strange world we live in these days.  Gas prices going crazy, mega-droughts predicted in the American southwest,  "happy" marriages being thrust down the rest of America's throats by the California Supreme court.  I'm quite upset by all of the change that seems to be happening so dramatically. 

The thought of explaining all these things to my children, within a Christian worldview, is intimidating to me.  Do I have it in me to explain it all?  Do I even understand it all myself?  I hear about all the natural disasters and climate change fears and think that well, in due time, Christ will return.  That seems like a simple answer, but it does seem to be the most logical end.  The world will not end in a flood, but with fire.  Do climate warming and mega-droughts seem so unbelievable or impossible?  Will this suffering just continue on until God returns?  Maybe nature really has nothing to do with the end times and this is just a cycle in nature with man's destructive actions compounding the events.  

What about the social conditions of this world?  My children cannot be shielded from the extreme lifestyles that are plastered all over the news and t.v.  And I feel inadequate to train them to be Christ-like leaders of their generation.  It seems that we are training our children as missionaries to America.   Lead or be led; is there any other choice for them?